Freckles that aren't where they're supposed to be
by freckled.little.acey
Summary: When young Ace is caught in a thick mist near the coast of Dawn island, He ends up somewhere he never would have expected, and when he meets the strangest Pirate crew's with an even stranger Captain, why does he claim to be Luffy? And why the hell is he the PIRATE KING? How will Ace get back to his timeline? And what are the costs to do so? Hurt/Comfort!TimeTravel!ArtNotMine!
1. The mist, and what followed

**Freckles that aren't where their supposed to be.**

CHAPTER 1: The Mist, and what followed.

* * *

Small footprints painted the brown dirt. Two small figures made their way across the lush forest that surrounded them at all sides. Laughter could be heard from both children who appeared to be...racing? The older child had dark black hair, and freckles that were scattered across his cheeks, while the smaller boy wore a straw hat, and a small scar could be found under his left eye.

"AH! ACE!" The smaller boy called, trying his hardest to keep up his pace. The boy who was referred to as Ace showed his teeth devilishly at the smaller child. The older wore a slight scowled with hints of annoyance in it as he ran ahead of the smaller child.

"It's your fault for being so damn slow, LUFFY!" The younger brunette stuck his tongue out at his _'Older brother'_ and grabbed onto the freckled boy with his rubber arms that for once, successfully stretched out. "OI! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOI'N!?" Ace demanded, however, he received no answer as Luffy had tugged his arms back and pulled the older boy to the ground, slamming his already dirty face into the ground. Luffy laughed at the sight of his older brother being tossed into the dirt by his ability.

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR!? YOU DAMN BRAT!" Luffy quickly hid his laughter knowing he would regret it. So he tightly closed his mouth to prevent it from teasing the other any longer, before quickly bowing his head in an apologetic matter.

"SORRY!" Luckily it was enough to calm the infuriated older boy, who looked to be 11 or so.

"You're lucky I don't pulverize you!" Ace scolded in anger, frustrated by the younger games that made him look stupid. However, despite outwardly showing anger towards the smaller boy, Ace never meant anything he ever said to Luffy, especially the harsh words. Luffy was all Ace had left and he simply couldn't bring himself to stay mad at the kid. As well as Luffy's innocence there were so many other traits the kid had that made it enjoyable for Ace to be around him. Although he could never admit that as it would make him seem too soft, which was **NOT** his style.

"Oi Luffy." The freckled boy called, gaining the attention of the younger. "Hm?" The child asked, in which he was answered.

"It's probably going to get late soon. Head back to the base while I go collect something to eat." Hearing these words caused Luffy to pout, he never wanted to do anything without Ace. The freckled boy had noticed that it didn't matter what he would do, where he would go, or how dangerous it was. Luffy would **ALWAYS** be right by his side. Which was mostly good, but sometimes the older needed some time to himself.

"But-" He tried, but was firmly replied to, "No way. Without Sabo, its gotten harder to keep an eye on you. You're better off staying warm somewhere safe." The word _'safe'_ was not something Ace used often, as it wasn't something he and Luffy were. For over a year they had been barely surviving in the harsh jungle. Having to hunt for food was not ideal, and the fact that he and Luffy were wanted kids did not make their situation any better. Luffy on the other hand, who was amazed that his brother who had cared about his safety, nodded his head in agreement and ran off to where their so-called _'base'_ was. And so Ace was left alone, which caused him to sigh a bit at Luffy's antics, before making his way to the coastline.

* * *

Ace headed towards the coast, hoping to find some sort of shark or crocodile to kill or something. Although it would indeed be strange to find a crocodile out in the ocean, but the boy had hope as they needed food if they were to survive the week. However, it was just as he had reached the coast when he noticed that it was head to toe in a thick, dark, mist.

"Mist?" The boy asked himself. He continued walking only to see that the mist grew thicker and thicker. He could hardly see a foot in front of himself. Suddenly there was a loud **[BANG!]** which practically made Ace fall over it was so strong. "What on earth was that?" he said a little too loud, not sure what was going on. Ace stood up slowly, not realizing he'd cut himself on a sharp rock that had sat idly by.

Soon more cannons made impact with the sand and cause more loud bangs. Ace started to run, hoping to find some sort of cover. Whilst running, he ran right into someone, or into their leg anyway.. "Are you ok?" A very feminine voice asked in a rush. Ace didn't even have time to reply to the women or understand what was happening before he felt a gentle arm lift him up.

"You shouldn't be here. It's much too dangerous for a child such as you. Come with me." Ace took offense to what the women had said since he was most capable of looking after himself and even if it was dangerous... so what? He could manage. But before the freckled boy to respond to the unknown women, another cannonball had impacted not too far from them. It wasn't long before Ace was being carried by the women. He held a distasteful look on his face, wanting to struggle a bit as she carried him, but swore that he could make out three or so arms holding him down and limiting his movement. Giving the women what was a rather confused look, Ace was hoping that this wasn't actually happening. Perhaps he was only dreaming? Closing his eyes in hopes of ending the dream, Ace continued to squeeze his eyes closed tightly thinking that it would all disappear if he tried hard enough. **[BANG]** Another cannon hit, this one was larger than the rest, and had much more power. Ace kept his eyes shut, only opening them when the women had stopped moving completely.

"It's safe now." She informed the boy who slowly slid off her and onto, grass? But wait, Ace could feel a gentle rocking, which meant that he was aboard a ship? How was that possible? "Ugh!" Ace hissed, noticing a small graze he had gotten on his elbow. He wasn't sure when he'd gotten it, and even though it was nothing serious it did still hurt. Normally something like this wouldn't bother the kid at all, but he felt as if his senses were all messed up, and he felt so nervous about everything around him. None of this was ok, he just wanted to see Luffy at this point. Wait...

"W-Wait, W-Where's Luffy!?" He shouted out, now remembering he had left him at the base. He looked up at the women with bright blue eyes and a slight pointed nose for an answer, she seemed just as shocked as Ace when she heard Luffy's name.

"You know Luffy?" She questioned in a less calm matter. Ace was just about ready to ask her the same question, but wasn't able to as he heard a new voice from the ship?

"OI! GET OFF YOUR LAZY ASSES AND SET SAIL! HURRY!" Not a second past before a man who had an abnormally long nose ran past Ace and the women. Looking around in confusion, Ace spotted someone near the upper deck, who seemed to be the one giving orders. Ace couldn't help but notice the man's eyebrows which swirled at the end. It was a little strange, but perhaps he was in charge? From what he could see, the young adult had a full set of blond hair and a cigarette that he was currently smoking, it wasn't long before he shouted again,

"CAPTAIN! We're ready for a coup' de burst!" Wait what? Did Ace hear that right? "C-Captain?" He muttered to himself, that must mean that he was currently on a pirate ship!? Of all things! He had to get back to Luffy and off this damn ship! Was Luffy even ok? What if he was here too!? But that isn't possible since he's back at the base. The freckled boy gave a slight sigh of relief. At least Luffy would be safe, however, that didn't make his situation any better. He was about to run off the ship, not caring of the consequence, but before he could do so, he spotted only briefly, barely for a moment, a young adult, who looked to be around the age of 20. He wore a red cardigan with blue shorts and a yellow sash around his waist. What Ace didn't want to believe was when he could have sworn he saw a straw hate tied around his neck.

"But that's..." He uttered barely above a whisper. The straw hat looked so similar's to Luffy's. But the kid wasn't here so there was no way that man could have had Luffy's hat... Right?

"SHI SHI SHI! LET'S GO!" The supposed Captain of the ship shouted. It wasn't long before the whole ship rumbled, and then there was a massive shock wave, Ace could barely open his eyes and thought he would fly off the ship, however, he was luckily caught by a women, she wasn't the same one as before, as this one had bright orange hair and to Ace's annoyance, didn't cover herself much.

"Who is this kid?" The woman questioned as she held onto Ace rather reluctantly, preventing him from flying off to who knows where. The darker haired women from before quickly made her way to the other and noted, "I found him on the island, I couldn't just leave him there." The orange-haired beauty gave the brunette women who appeared to be much older than her a sigh, obviously unsure how she felt about the situation. Ace looked at her with yet another confused look, being unsure what to make of anything that was happening.

It was only then that Ace noticed all the shouting and laughing that was going on around him. Other than the few people he spotted earlier, He saw a green-haired man sleeping in the corner, how he wasn't awake and was able to sleep in such circumstances was beyond Ace. The young boy continued looking around him from the women's grasp to see, a skeleton? and a raccoon dog? Just who were these people? were they even people at all? Because a lot of them weren't even human. What was going on? How on earth would he get back to Luffy!?

* * *

It took a few minutes for the Pirate ship Ace had been smuggled onto, to finally land on the ocean surface. The impact made Ace shake and in the process, the women lost her grip on him, which caused him to land face-first into the strangely soft grass that layered the lower deck of the ship. It took it another minute or so to finally stop shaking. Ace stood up slowly, wincing a bit from being dropped, putting his hand to his face and rubbing it in hopes of subsiding the slight pain.

The orange-haired woman who had been so clumsy to drop him, seemed as if she'd forgotten he'd existed. She walked away complaining of how she needed a shower. While the dark-haired women stood near Ace with what Ace noted to be a book in hand, The young freckled boy looked about the ship once more to see that several of the crew members were off about to do their own thing.

The blond one mentioned something of cooking while a light blue-haired man who Ace hadn't spotted earlier, said something about refilling the cola? What on earth for? The skeleton left to practice instruments or something, while the raccoon and odd nosed fellow didn't stray too far and instead looked for fishing rods to begin fishing. The mossy haired man continued sleeping to Ace's surprise. However Ace was more concerned why absolutely no one on board seemed to notice that he was there. He sighed and his gaze turned towards the side of the ship, which he saw as only... The OCEAN!? He had left Luffy behind! These pirates had left Dawn island and now he'd never get back if he didn't leave now! Turning to the woman with a rather frantic look on his face, the older simply smiled down at him. He had no time for this

"So," she started, "What's your name?" Ace gave her a rather foul look in response. He didn't have time to be conversing with others, let alone the person who'd taken him away from his home.

Suddenly a loud shout was heard throughout the ship, causing Ace to turn to see who'd shouted. Ace paused when he saw that the same man from earlier had made his way to the main deck if it could even be called that as it was covered in grass. The young adult was laughing about something unknown. Ace was able to get a good look at him, noting the scar under his left eye which was oddly familiar, but the big 'X' mark on his chest was something else that piqued Ace's interest.

"Where did he get that scar?" The freckled boy muttered, rivaling that of a whisper. However it was only then that Ace was able to see the man properly, and it was at this time that he saw what was clearly seen to be Luffy's hat that was hanging around his neck!? Did that mean Luffy was here!? Had they taken him too? Now Ace was getting agitated, and as Ace continued looking at the young man now with a scowl on his face, the man soon noticed the small boy and had been looking directly at him quite enraged about something. Seeing that the man looked at Ace, he gritted his teeth in return, quite frustrated that he didn't know where Luffy was. And obviously he was being kept on this ship, and that man had stolen his hat! The nerve! The man on the other hand, just about looked as if he had seen a ghost after seeing Ace, his eye's widened, somehow reminding Ace of Luffy's eye's, but the older's eyes were so, Empty, heartbroken as if something was missing and would never return. He could only wonder why he thought they reminded him of Luffy's.

"A-Ace?" The man uttered, barely loud enough for the child to hear. Infuriated at his assumption of the man, Ace made his way over to him quite annoyed, clenching his fists if he did need to fight.

"How the hell do you know my name!? And where's Luffy!?" The young man flinched at the boy's voice. Trying to comprehend what he was seeing.

"A-ACE!" He shouted, his eyes beginning to water. He bent down quickly which Ace hadn't predicted, and assumed he would be attacked, but was surprised when the man had pulled him into a... hug? Tears flowed out the young man's eyes while Ace stood there very much confused.

"What are you-" He started, but was cut off by the older.

"ACE! I CAN'T BELIEVE ITS YOU! IS IT REALLY YOU!? PORTGAS D. ACE!?" You would think that it was impossible for Ace to be any more confused at this point, but it was possible because he was beyond surprised when he heard his full name called out loud.

"How, do you know that!?" He asked defensively, wondering how this **'PIRATE'** even knew his name, and his last name for that matter.

"IT'S ME!" The older teen shouted in tear's, almost making Ace want to cover his ears. Who on earth was this guy? He was being so loud and annoying... It was somewhat familiar to the brunette child.

"Ace, It's me, Luffy!" He said not as loud, giving Ace a wide grin. The freckled boy's eyes widened, it's not possible, no way!

"LUFFY!? B-But we were just in the forest! Just over an hour ago!" He shouted, pushing this supposed **'Luffy' **away. Like hell, he would believe that this 20-year-old man was supposed to be his younger brother! "A-Ace?" Luffy questioned, not knowing why he reacted so harshly.

"PROVE IT!" The boy shouted, confusing the other. "There is no way that you could be Luffy! Like hell I'd believe you!" Shocked by the sudden outburst, Luffy was just about ready to fall apart at his brother's harsh words he knew all too well, but held it together and replied,

"Ace, I really am Luffy! I know that you and I, and Sabo lived on Dawn island, and we shared Sake cups of brotherhood! Please believe me. And look-" The man then took the straw hat from his head and placed it on Ace's, who was now shocked at what the older man was saying. How on earth did he know all that!? Could he really be Luffy!? "It's my straw hat that Shank's gave me when I was little, how could I forget that?" He gave the younger another big smile, hoping to have convinced him. The boy gave the older a very confused look, but as Luffy could see his brother put the pieces together, Ace's expression soon changed when he'd realized what was happening. His eye's widened and he looked as if in disbelief.

"L-Luffy! Is it seriously you!? What happened to you!? This doesn't make any sense!" Luffy sweatdropped at Ace's words, laughing nervously at the subject. However before he had a chance to explain himself, Luffy noticed one of his crew members standing nearby and looked up at the women. "Robin, could you uh.." However, the women who was referred to as _'Robin' _laughed a bit in response, understanding the circumstances.

"Of course, anything for our Captain. You are the **'Pirate King'** after all." She smiled and walked away, leaving Ace utterly stunned at what he'd just heard. The small child in even more shock than before, looked up at Luffy to confirm what he'd supposedly heard... There was no way he had actually heard that right. Right? Luffy on the other hand, just as shocked that she'd used his newly found title to address him, sighed under his breath. Dammit, He had a whole lot of explaining to do...

TBC.

**[AUTHORS NOTES]**

**Updated and edited. Wow to think I wrote this like 7 months ago... I come back to edit it and I add nearly an extra 1000 words to it ^^; Happy with this updated copy and I'll continue to slowly fix the plot mistakes, as well as the punctuation/grammar mistakes in this story. I did like the story in this copy though. I kept Ace to his proud and stubborn self which I enjoy reading much more than when I made him more fragile in the previous copy. See you all next time And I should be updating "The blue gentlemen, the straw hat" soon. Anyway, Sayonara ^^**


	2. Explanations, and a new perspective

**Freckles that aren't where their supposed to be.**

CHAPTER 2: Explanations, and a new perspective

* * *

The Thousand Sunny was usually one of the loudest ships in the entire new world, rivaling that of even red-haired Shank's crew ship, which was thanks to the outrageous volume of just about every member of the straw hat pirates. Their natural gift for being ridiculously loud and excited about anything and everything made it almost impossible to not hear them from the other side of the grand line, or even south blue for all they knew. However, that was not the case at the moment. Most members were strangely quiet while a young freckled boy stood, eyes widened, as he refused to break eye contact with the young adult who stood before him.

"L-Luffy?" Ace questioned the man, having doubts about whether or not he was actually Luffy. Of course, he did say he was, and all the information added up.. But... was he really Luffy? The older sighed with an unpleasant look on his face, obviously, he had not planned to tell the younger boy as Luffy looked down at his very confused brother, he decided that it was probably only right if he told the truth. So he gave the freckled boy a large grin before stammering happily "Yep! I did it Ace! I'm the** Pirate King!**" He immediately started laughing happily, as if he had not a care in the world. Ace was filled with ridiculous amounts of confusion. He looked at the older having no idea if what has happened was even real. But before the younger boy could even respond to that ridiculous statement, he was once again taken in with a hug by Luffy. The older breathed,

"It's so good to see you Ace." It was quite only barely above a whisper, but audible. What did he mean by that exactly? And why did this feel so real if none of this was happening, because there was just no way this could be real, could there? "L-Luffy?" Ace uttered again, gaining the older's attention. He simply hummed curiously in reply and Ace continued,

"Well uh, I'm mainly just confused but... What happened to you? You were only 8 years old when I saw you back at Dawn island. That was just over an hour ago..." It was a valid statement. Ace still didn't want to believe that his younger kid brother was now almost twice his age, the older paused for a moment, seeming to be thinking about something. Ace didn't know what it was but Luffy soon shrugged his shoulder's obviously not knowing how to answer.

"I'm not sure what to say, It seems to be a mystery reason why you're here." Well, at least one thing hadn't changed, Luffy was still as dumbfounded as all those years ago. Or... hours ago? Ace was still trying to figure out what was happening. But at Luffy's response Ace slowly shook his head, finally letting a small grin cross his face, a small laugh followed. "Pfftt!" And before Ace knew it he was finding himself laughing for no reason. Give the younger an odd look at first, Luffy then decided to join in on the laughter, which happened to get the attention of two crew members. They made their way over to where Luffy and Ace were, still oblivious to Ace's existence and not knowing who the small child Luffy was laughing with was...

"Oi Luffy, what are you do'in? The older teen with the strange nose asked he was accompanied by the small raccoon dog who wore a large blue hat with a cross in the center. Luffy stopped laughing with his brother to look at the teen. He smiled immediately afterward still quite happy about what had happened.

"Ah, Usopp, Chopper! Me and Ace are just laughing!" He deadpanned happily, not worried about the fact that his very much **'dead'** brother who had died 3 years earlier was now on their ship, and was 11 years old... Usopp and Chopper both looked stunned at that sentence. They look to see what appeared to be a very small Portgas D. Ace with Luffy who was still laughing a bit. With their eyes popping out wide both the sharpshooter and the doctor fell back from simply being that surprised by seeing the small freckled boy.

"A-ACE!?" They both shouted in unison, utterly shocked at what they were witnessing. Both of the two younger crew mates immediately ran over to Ace hugging him tightly. Ace was definitely surprised that they showed him such kindness. He'd never even met either of these people. Why were they acting like they knew him?

"W-What are you-?" Ace tried but was cut off by another shout.

"Ace!" Chopper yelled through tears. It had been so long since he last saw the freckled man... or rather boy he supposed. Chopper had met Ace as an adult but right now he was a kid? Either way, he was still excited to see Ace. Not that he knew how on earth he'd gotten there, he was still grateful to see him. Usopp stood up soon after Ace had finally pushed the two off him, now quite frustrated. Giving a slight sweat drop Usopp decided that now would be an awesome time to tell everyone of Ace's arrival as strange as it may be. He was on the ship and everyone had to know to he was one way or another.

"I have to go tell everyone!" Usopp stammered in excitement. Chopper dropped Ace in seconds and started cheering for Usopp intensely which Ace found a bit daunting. The boy could only watch in confusion as the Long-nosed sniper and Reindeer left in a rush. Those two sure did seem like a hand full... But if this was supposed to be Luffy's crew then Ace didn't really expect any less.

"Uh, who were those two- Ugh!" The freckled boy held his elbow which had gotten hurt earlier. It only stung a little since it had only happened recently Ace assumed, but the cut sure didn't want to go away. Although the cut wasn't serious that didn't stop Luffy from freaking out at the sign of Ace being injured, Even if it was only slightly Luffy simply couldn't risk Ace getting hurt, ever again.

"AH! ACE! Are you ok!?" He quickly bends down to ensure that his brother was ok, probably panicking far more than he needed to. Ace had a bit of a scowl hung on his face when his brother seemed concerned about him. He could look after himself he didn't need his help. Besides the graze wasn't even that bad. Wanting to ignore the young man, Ace's thoughts lingered away from the cut and he realized that he was still wondering why no one seemed to care that he most likely was not supposed to be where he was. It was in no way possible. What exactly happened in that mist?

"Hold out your arm," Luffy instructed after finally calming down. Hearing Luffy's calmed voice snapped Ace out of his thoughts. Although he was reluctant to do so, Ace did as told and his brother wrapped it accordingly with a bandage he had pulled out of his pocket for whatever reason.

"So uh.." Ace tried, not sure where to start. "Why does no one find it weird that I'm here? It's an impossible thing right?" The older nearly finished covering up the small cut, He paused once finishing, and grew quiet while lowering his head to Ace's surprise. But before the brunette child could question anything, Luffy raised his head and held a wide smile on his face while answering the boy's question.

"I wouldn't say it's impossible. This **IS** the new world after all." Luffy laughed a bit while Ace almost choked on his brother's statement. Now furious, Ace ripped his arm away from Luffy then tried his best to hold him by his collar although because of his height he had failed a little which made Luffy laugh at the small child's attempt.

"WHY THE HELL ARE YOU IN THE NEW WORLD!?" Ace demanded to know. It was after all the most dangerous sea in the world! And hadn't he just been at Dawn island!? If that was true then why on earth were they all suddenly in the new world of all places!? Luffy, who was a little shocked at Ace's reaction smiled and stated,

"Well, I **AM** the Pirate King. It only makes sense that I am in the New World." Ace gained a tick mark at his brothers answer, grabbing his pipe that had somehow been on the ship who knows how, and whacked the so-called _'Pirate King'_ on the head, making him wince a little. It was only then that Chopper returned to tell Luffy that everyone was aware that Ace was on board. Although it seemed as if the doctor could sense that Luffy was hurt and had came right on time to treat the small bump Ace had given him, although Luffy told Chopper not to worry about it and instead turned to Ace. "Oi, What the hell was that for Ace?" Luffy ignored the reindeer that continued to try and treat his head. Luffy pushed Chopper away softly while rubbing his head because of the slight pain.

"That's another thing you need to explain. How the hell did you become the Pirate King!?" _(Chopper was now simply standing unnoticed in the background, pouting because Luffy hadn't wanted him to help)_

"I got strong!" The Brunette adult boasted, pride escaping his mouth. "It took a long time, but I got strong enough to defeat Black beard! And then we found Raftel and-" Luffy stopped himself. Not wanting to remember what had happened when he and his crew finally reached One Piece. He sighed inwardly, and continued, not going over what happened. "We left and then lots of new Yonko were formed and-" He continued for a good 10 minutes. Going over adventures he had after becoming the Pirate King and how they were currently trying to map out the whole world and find All Blue of course.

Ace tried to listen to his brother's stories but couldn't focus properly. He was so tired and still was clueless to what was going on. Seconds passed before Ace's Narcolepsy caused him to pass out on the floor, taken by the waves of sleep. Luffy laughed at his brother and because Chopper was doing nothing, _(aside from pouting)_ he took the responsibility to take Ace to Luffy's bed, as there was nowhere else to put him...

* * *

After the reindeer had made his way out with Ace in hand, Luffy sat alone on the lower deck. He silently got up and made his way to the main room which was surprisingly empty. On the coffee table sat the Den Den-Mushi that was used for contacting other Pirates. Franky had modified it so the marines couldn't spy on their conversations. Luffy picked up the voice speaker and dialed a number, then waited patiently for a response.

**[KACHA]**

"Hello?" A deep voice answered. Luffy didn't know what this man was supposed to sound like, as he had never met him, but knew who it was because of what he'd been told about the person.

"Hello! This is Monkey D. Luffy! The Pirate King!." He spoke seriously, always having to introduce himself properly no matter who it was on the other end. Whether it was Pirate or Marine Luffy simply couldn't help himself. The young adult waited for a response, but immediately heard a loud bang come from the other end, the speaker had probably been dropped if Luffy were to guess although he had no idea why.

"L-Luffy!?" The man answered in shock, as this was the last thing he was expecting to happen today. "HOW THE HELL DID YOU GET THE REVOLUTIONARIES NUMBER!?" He demanded, outrageous about something unknown. Luffy laughed at his father's antics.

"Sabo gave it to me at Dress Rosa a while back." The head revolutionary simple face-palmed his head. Of course, Sabo would do something so reckless.

"I see, So what is it you need?" Luffy smiled, taking in every word his father spoke, although he had never met him, he seemed like a great person. If only Luffy could meet him for real... Maybe he would be able to get Nami to navigate the ship to the revolutionaries. One day, but not any time soon.

"I need to talk with Sabo, it's important." The speaker was silent for a minute until a new voice answered.

"Hi, Luffy! How's my favorite little brother been doing? Haven't taken down the Government I hope; that **IS** my job after all." Luffy perked up at Sabo's kind voice. He was always so fond of the blonde. He still couldn't believe that Sabo had been alive the entire time after the incident on Dawn island. It's truly a miracle that Sabo is alive. To be honest that was probably another reason Luffy wanted to meet his father. Dragon was the reason Sabo was still alive so he really did owe Dragon quite a lot for saving his only other brother.

"Hi, Sabo! I'm doing amazing! And no I haven't taken the government out yet! SHI SHI SHI!" Sabo laughed on the other end. He was always happy to speak with Luffy whenever he called. The younger's voice always made his day. Giving a small hum at the thought he smiled.

"So what's up?" The blonde asked. Luffy grew silent for a moment. He couldn't just tell him that Ace came back from the dead as a kid. Although the blondes response would indeed be one worth seeing, that would simply cause too much panic and then Sabo would abandon all his duties go see them. Luffy really didn't want the blonde to go out of his way to do that. Even if it was for Ace's sake.

"When are you free next? Come visit me you horrible older brother!" The Pirate King teased, earning Sabo a tick mark on his head.

"Oi oi... I'm not that bad... Uhh, I'm free in about a week after this next job. I can visit then using your Vivre card?" Luffy immediately smiled and shouted back happily,

"That sounds perfect! And I've got the best surprise for you! I bet you'll never guess what it is!" **[KACHA]** He then hung up the phone as he didn't want to accidentally let the secret out. On the other end, Sabo stared at the Mushi's speaker. His face showed a few signs of confusion,

"What was that about?" He wondered. He slowly hung up the Den den-mushi to attend his pressing duties. But aside from that, he couldn't wait to see his little brother at the end of the week. "This is going o be a busy week..." He breathed as he started organizing his mission with Koala.

* * *

Aboard the Whitebeard pirate's ship, A certain Zoan-type user leaned to the wooden railing of the ship and gazed out into the ocean. Luckily he was able to regain the name on Yonko in honor of Pops, but that didn't mean he was happy with the outcome, as his mind often lingered not far from the stupid fire user who caused their crew so much trouble... Although Marco was a little bitter at Ace's stubbornness, being the reason a lot of bad things happened, Marco simply couldn't help but miss the freckled man.

"If only I was stronger..." He breathed, not wanting the rest of the crew to hear. He silently stared at nothing before his personal Den den-mushi rang. "Just great, who is it this time? It's probably that damn Akagami..." He reluctantly answered and said simply, "Hello? Marco speaking." He was met with a rather loud voice in return, one that belonged only to one person.

"HI MARCO! THIS IS MONKEY D. LUFFY! THE PIRATE KING!" The dark-haired boy shouted. Marco winced at the loud shouts and moved the mushi away from his ear, regretting that he'd answered his snail, because he knew well that this brat brought trouble wherever he went, and the blonde wanted no part in it.

"Yes, straw hat.." An un-enthusiastic voice replied, wanting the call to be over.

"When are you free?" Was the only response Marco got? Sighing inwardly having a feeling that the small brat wanted him to visit.

"Probably never." The blond deadpanned, not ever wanting to visit Luffy's ship, they were nearby but that didn't make him want to do it anymore. The Thousand Sunny was, after all, the loudest ship in the New World. Marco hated even having to visit Akagami and to think that straw hat's ship was even worse... well... The blonde didn't want to think such volume existed on one ship.

"Liar! We both know you're doing nothing!, besides this **IS** important!" Finding the situation unavoidable, Marco answered,

"I doubt it, what exactly is it that demands my undivided attention?" Luffy bit his tongue, not wanting to reveal too much, but he did **NEED** Marco to come so he supposed there was no other choice. "Seriously Marco, This is important. Th-This is... About Ace." The phoenix almost choked on Luffy's words. What the hell did he mean by that!?

"HEY WHAT THE HELL DOES THAT M-" **[KACHA]** The line went dead, That brat hung up on him! "That Bastard!" He shouted, now he had to go see what that damned Pirate was up to, what was he doing that involved Ace? He had to find out. Well, he knew one thing at least... He **WOULD** see Luffy as soon as possible and beat the living crap out of him for this. So he simply left the railing to try and explain to his crew why they had to go and visit the Pirate King on such short notice... What a pain...

* * *

After ending the very short call with Marco, Luffy soon contacted the three remaining Yonko which were the more harder two to speak with, aside from Shanks as he was always happy to speak with Luffy at any time and at anyplace. Despite the fact that Luffy was good friends with the other two Yonko, that didn't mean that getting his message across was the easiest thing to do. Especially the second one... After things were set straight and the other Yonko had been invited to Luffy's ship, He happily went to find Nami to explain what was going to happen, as she usually got mad when she wasn't informed on things like this. As if walking on air,  
Luffy sped to the women's room where Nami had finished her shower and was talking to Robin about something. With a simple knock on the door, Nami opened it.

"Hi, Luffy, What is it this time?" She spoke in a harsh manner, as Luffy usually only saw her to ask for favors.

"Hi, Nami! I'm just letting you know that all four Yonko ships and a revolutionary ship will be coming to meet us this coming week." He simply said as if nothing was wrong with the sentence at all. Nami just about dropped her Cartography pencil but caught it before it's led broke.

"The hell did you just say?" She questioned in an annoyed manner. Luffy instantly knew that he was dead meat...

"Oop's uhh. Gotta go!" He smiled, rushing off before the orange-haired navigator could abuse him for the remainder of the day. Nami stood at her door shouting rather harsh things about Luffy while amazingly not waking up Ace. After she closed her door in anger, she wondered just how Luffy got their crew in these messes... Well, she had to prepare for the _'unexpected'_ company that would come in the next few days, so getting Sanji to cook something good was probably the best way to go.

**TBC.**

**[AUTHORS NOTES]**

**More updated Chapters ^^ I did a whole lot of edits to this one. But I once again believe that I have made it a lot better than the old copy. I'm still working on the next chapter for "The blue gentle, the straw hat" But it should come out soon. And my apologies for ending the story "Freckled Path" As I felt like that story really wasn't worth saving. I'll just write a better AceLu story after finishing this one or my other stories. Sayonara Minasan!**


	3. Getting to know them, precious moments

**Freckles that aren't where their supposed to be.**

CHAPTER 3: Getting to know them, and precious moments

* * *

The room was dark and gentle slits of sunlight shone through cracks in the wooden door as a young freckled boy lay asleep in Luffy's bed. He woke up in a daze, barely remembering where he was or what had happened. With his mind quite foggy from the previous events that had happened, he sat up slowly. He didn't really notice that he wasn't in a forest, and in his base with Luffy, he simply was too tired to notice his surroundings. Ace walked to the door, placing his hand on the knob, he started to notice that it was bigger than the one at his base, although not having the energy to care, he opened it, and took in the Thousand Sunny's lower deck as if he had never seen it before.

"W-Where am I?" He slurred, trying to recall what had happened. Ace looked up at the sky, rubbing his eyes tiredly, and seeing that it was nearing sunset. The freckled boy had now gained new wonder on why he had been asleep all day, and where he had been asleep. Because this didn't look familiar at all. Where on earth was he? Ace grew lost in his thoughts but was thrown out of them when an unfamiliar voice was heard.

"It's about time you woke up." A small chill went down Ace's neck as he heard the low and dangerous voice. He looked around although he didn't see anyone around.

"Who's there!?" He shouted to no one. Trying to locate the stranger. It was then that someone had placed their hand on Ace's shoulder, scaring the hell out of him in the process. Although Ace was definitely quite shocked by the sudden contact, he bit his lip and leaped forwards, quickly turning to see a young man with mossy green hair. The first thing noticed was the three swords resting at the man's hip. Giving him a defensive look Ace noticed that this stranger only had one eye as the other had been slashed and a scar had been left. The man gave off a very daunting aura, although despite not knowing him Ace felt like he'd seen him if only briefly.

"Don't be so noisy." The man said simply before walking away and leaning against a wall. Ace was unsure why this man seemed so laid back. Wasn't he an enemy? Perhaps not... Ace took that moment to look around once more, then blatantly realized where he was. He was on The Thousand Sunny! Luffy's Pirate ship! He remembered having met an older Luffy yesterday! Wait but wasn't that all a dream? Was it actually true? It was at that moment that the freckled child remembered seeing this man asleep earlier today.

"You're the guy from before... I saw you sleeping earlier." Stated Ace quietly, still not dropping his defensive voice. The man grunted in response and in return answered,

"Yeah, that was probably me. You're Luffy's brother, right? Ace if I recall." It felt like Ace's heartbeat had stopped, How did this man know his name? He'd never met him in his life... He seemed so casual and normal about it as well... How was he not freaking out that he was there? Since it was pretty, much impossible. New World or not, time-traveling, or whatever Ace did,** DOESN'T HAPPEN** normally. It all seemed a little curious so Ace pressed the topic.

"Do I know you?" Was all Ace said without any proper context. This man was a stranger there was no way he would simply accept him and move on. Ace didn't do stuff like that. Without good reason anyway.

"Sort of. You were about 20 or so when we met, so I doubt you would know who I am at your current age." Wait what? He had met him? But that didn't sound right at all. Well, assuming this was another timeline, or something crazy, Ace could only assume that he would eventually have met up with Luffy after he'd entered the Grand line. There would have been a small chance Ace would have had the opportunity to meet this man. Although this would have been years in the future. Ace was mainly confused so he abandoned his current thoughts to question the green-haired man.

"Your name?" He asked sheepishly, wanting further information. The man laughed before taking a swing of some rum that was apparently near him.

"Roronoa Zoro, First mate." Huh? He was Luffy's first mate? Seriously? Ace wanted to continue probing but his stomach growled before he could ask anything. Zoro chuckled once more before adding "You're hungry right? And I assume you have an appetite similar to Luffy's. The perverted chef is currently making dinner and hates it when people go hungry. He'll probably get you something." Ace took a moment to understand what was said, A perverted chef? That didn't sound good at all. If the captain of this crew really was Luffy, then why the hell is there a perverted man on his ship? If it were Ace he wouldn't think twice about it. No perverts allowed, no matter what the circumstance.

"Thanks?" The freckled boy questioned. Not knowing if learning this information was helpful or not. He was debating whether or not he really did want to meet this chef. He didn't sound at all safe. But deciding to take a chance, Ace slowly stepped away in search of the kitchen. Ace noticed that the ship was rather quiet. Too quiet for a pirate ship anyways. Usually, people would be laughing and dancing right? That's what he'd in-visioned anyway... But with his seemingly endless thoughts aside, the boy finally managed to locate the kitchen. The young boy slowly opened the door, seeing that there was a blonde-haired man cooking in the kitchen. He quickly took notice of Ace's arrival and placed a bowl of something that looked amazing near him.

"You must be Ace. Long time no see. Come on in and help yourself, you have been sleeping for a while and I'm honestly not surprised after your first _Coup' de burst_." Ace gave yet another defensive look. This man did look quite nice, but he couldn't trust anyone. Only Luffy. But even then Ace didn't even know if that man was Luffy. Sure he knew the facts but there was still a small piece of doubt that lingered in the back of Ace's head. Looking at the blonde Ace noticed the words _Coup' de burst_. What did that mean? And what did it have to do with him sleeping? Because if Ace had to guess his sleep was because of his Narcolepsy. Once again dismissing his thoughts Ace nodded slowly and climbed onto the stool at the counter. Quite hesitant to do anything, he looked down at the bowl and decided to eat whatever was in it. It could have been poisoned but Ace was willing to risk it in order to be fed. After tasting it for the first time, even Ace was shocked at how amazing the food tasted. Although he tried not to look surprised, The blonde could always tell when his cooking was appreciated.

"I'm glad you like it." The blonde smiled, then pointed to himself asking, "So Ace, Do you know who I am?" Ace grunted rather annoyed when the man talked to him like a child, yet he still shook his head in reply. He had to admit that he'd never met this man ever. Although he did remember him saying _'long time no see'_ so perhaps like the swordsmen Ace had also met this man in this timeline as well. The chef simply chuckled at the boy's response then continued. "Figures, I doubt you'd have your memories on us." What did that mean? Him memories? And who was this _'us'_? Now he was curious...

"What's your name?" Ace asked while dishing up his third bowl of food. Deciding to drop his guard slightly. After all the man-made some pretty damn good food. That's noteworthy in Ace's book.

"It's Sanji... Just Sanji." The blonde had paused while addressing himself. Unsure if he should use his full name, then mentally sighed and just stuck with his first name. It's not like Ace needs to know his full name.

"Sanji... Like the number three?" Ace asked, finding a little humor in the man's name however not showing his amusement by it. Sanji sighed having heard that question too many times in his life. He rolled his eyes and replied,

"Yea, pretty much..." Ace decided to let a small smile reach his face. He really hated being around other people but everyone he had met so far seemed fairly nice. Sanji didn't seem all that bad so Ace could only wonder what Zoro meant by him being a pervert? The blonde seemed perfectly fine to the brunette.

"Ne, Sanji, where is everyone? And Luffy?" He wasn't really concerned about anyone else, he just wanted to know where his brother was.

"Don't worry Ace, Luffy is fine. You probably didn't notice, but we docked on an island and Luffy always loves new adventures. He should be back soon if we're lucky." The young boy looks up and the older man and noticed that he felt quite comfortable around him. It was odd for Ace to warm up to someone this easily. Normally he'd go somewhere on his own and wait for Luffy. But everyone needed a change at some point.

"Who else is here?" Ace managed, wondering who else he should know about. Sanji thought for a moment before starting with hearts being formed in the puffs of smoke coming from his cigarette which made Ace sweatdrop.

"The beautiful Robin-Chan is the only other person here ~ 3" Ace then heard Sanji mutter something about a shitty Marimo and wondered if he meant Zoro. It wasn't long before he reverted back to his love-struck motion when addressing... Robin was it?. "She's in the library I believe! Such elegance only deserves the best place to study ^^." Ace was now starting to realize why this cook was given the label of _'pervert'. _But despite this small flaw, Sanji was still pretty good. Especially his cooking. After the blonde fazed out of his lovey-dovey mode, he gave Ace another smile which the boy returned if only a little. Ace thanked Sanji for his meal and left to find Robin. Ace remembered her, she was that woman who carried him out from all the mist... She was the reason he was there...

* * *

After about 15 minutes of searching, Ace finally found the library. He walked in hesitantly, still getting used to his surroundings, and saw that Robin was sitting at a table with a stack of books near her.

"Come in Ace." She stated without looking up. How did she know he was there? Nevertheless, Ace reluctantly did as told for once and made his way beside her. She seemed to be reading history books, and Ace wasn't at all interested. He debated whether or not he actually should have come to see the women.

"I hate reading.." He uttered, remembering all the times Makino attempted to teach him and Luffy to read. She did teach the two how to read most things... But that didn't make doing it any more enjoyable for Ace. Robin chuckled softly.

"I think you would be interested in this book. Luffy asked me to find out more about how you ended up here and I think I've found something on the matter." Suddenly Ace's full attention went to Robin. She had found the reason he was there!?

"YOU KNOW HOW I CAN GO HOME!?" He shouted it in which a hand appeared on his arm and covered his mouth while scaring the crap out of him.

"Quiet please." The archaeologist warned in a gentle manner. The arm then disappeared into petals and Ace was ready to freak out.

"WHAT WAS-" He was about to shout, but was overridden by a little more dangerous tone.

"I said quiet Ace. You'll get no answers to your questions if you cant ask them politely." Robin pressed. Ace sweatdropped at the women's new tone. He stopped and thought for a moment before coming to an obvious conclusion.

"You're a devil fruit user aren't you?" Robin simply hummed in response.

"So Ace, according to what I'm reading, you came here through a warp in time and space." Ace stayed quiet so then the woman could finish her explanation. "If I'm correct, you Ace, have been warped to another timeline, which was activated by the thick mist that surrounded you when I had found you. However, that is only an assumption." Ace had no idea how to reply. Space? Time? That sounded so complicated! Could he ever go home!? It made the boy grow frustrated. Why did this all have to happen to him? And everything was happening so fast! He didn't want any of this at all. He wanted to be back at his base with Luffy. No matter how nice these people were **he wanted to go home!**

"C-Can I get home?" He uttered, now unsure if returning home was possible with his current situation.

"I'm not sure at this point... And I don't know how long it will take before I get any answers sadly." The dark-haired woman smiled softly before returning to her book. Ace simply nodded and gave a sigh. This really wasn't going anywhere... feeling that now was the time to leave, he quietly stepped out of the library. This was so much to take in. Timelines and warping? And Robin didn't even know how long it would take to even have a theory of how to get him home if that was even possible... Ace started to pace around the ship with his mind lost in his thoughts. What could he do?

Suddenly Ace was brought out of his thoughts by a loud shout that could be heard in the distance. Ace saw two hands grab the railing near him, and he could hear the shout grow louder. When he looked to see who it was, he was met with Luffy's Gum-Gum Rocket in his face, whilst Luffy smacking his forehead into Ace's, nearly knocking the poor child out.

"OH! ACE!" Luffy chimed, seeing his brother on the planks of the deck. Ace pressed his hand's to his forehead, trying to suppress the pain and in anger hissed,

"W-WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR!?" Luffy simply smiled and went over to Ace, picking the small boy up and pulling his hands away from his beet-red forehead.

"Sorry Ace, I didn't mean it ^^;" Was Luffy's only reply before he planted a small kiss on the child's forehead. Ace's face lit up in embarrassment, hating that **HIS 'younger'** brother was treating him like a kid. Even if this Luffy technically was older, Ace was still the oldest right? Luffy grinned and placed Ace back down, pulling a plaster from his pocket. Why he had plaster's in his pocket was beyond Ace... Luffy stuck it to the freckled boy's head and ruffled his hair. "Oh, that reminds me... I want to tell you something, come with me? Before everyone gets back?" With Ace's cheeks still red, which you couldn't tell whether or not they were from embarrassment or frustration. Still, he nodded and Luffy proceeded to pick him up and place him on his shoulders.

"Wh-What are you doi'n?! Put me down!" Ace demanded, not liking this babying that Luffy gave him.

"I'm giving you a shoulder ride, Duh," Luffy replied ignoring Ace's demand, giving the boy a look as if his reasons were an obvious thing not to question.

"Yea I know but why!?" the boy pressed.

"Cause I love ya, obviously." Luffy then placed his precious straw hat on Ace's head yet again like earlier then continued smiling. Luffy's statement caused Ace to keep quiet, not being able to voice an opinion. Luffy began walking off The Thousand Sunny and through town talking about all sorts of things. Ace played with the strings that hung from Luffy's hat while hiding his ridiculous face covered mostly with embarrassment and annoyance from the public.

* * *

Not long after, barely past sunset, The two brothers had reached a hilltop that overlooked the town below. The New Pirate King placed Ace on the ground and lazily sat in the grass, motioning Ace to do the same. Surprisingly without hesitation, Ace did as told, and sat rather close to Luffy. Feeling quite awkward around the older, not knowing what to say or do. He glanced over at Luffy's lap and bit his lip slightly. Ace couldn't help the fact that maybe he did want to be a little more relaxed around his brother, but he also didn't want to seem soft. He had always told Luffy to be a man and to be tough. He hated the thought of him showing a sign of weakness... But even Ace himself barely realized it, as his body merely moved on its own when he rested his head on the older's lap. He didn't know why he did it, or the impression it may give. But Ace knew one thing, which was that... When he was with Luffy, Ace felt so 'safe' and 'warm', He never wanted the feeling to end. He hated himself for showing this weakness that he'd always bottled up, but with everything that was happening he needed someone to comfort him. For once Ace would put his pride aside.

"Ne Ace." Luffy started, looking out at the sea while placing his hand on his straw hat that sat perfectly on Ace's head. Said child hummed in response, wondering what had been on Luffy's mind. The older smiled once more before continuing. "I want you to keep it. My hat." That was not what Ace expected at all.

"What? Don't be stupid Luffy! It's y-" Ace tried to reason, his head still on the older's lap.

"No... It's not." The younger man said moving his gaze to Ace. The freckled boy moved his gaze from the sea to face Luffy as his head rested on him. He was quite confused about what the older meant by that. "That was given to me by Shanks. It holds a promise that I made to him." He paused for a moment before continuing. "I fulfilled my promise Ace. Shanks gave me the hat back, telling me to make a promise to someone, and to leave it in their care." Ace was beginning to understand what Luffy was trying to say but wasn't really ready to accept it. Because if Luffy was saying what he thought he was saying, then the freckled boy could tell where this was going... It was all so sudden, he only knew this Luffy for less than a day and he was giving him his prized straw hat!? Well, since it was Luffy it wasn't that surprising now that Ace thought about it.

"I can't!" Ace said sternly, catching Luffy's attention.

"Of course you can. You're somebody Ace, not just Roger's son, and not just my brother. You, **Portgas D. Ace**, Are very important to me and because of that, I am in-trusting my hat with you." It was so weird, seeing Luffy act so mature. It was so out of character. Ace was quite speechless at Luffy's words. It didn't seem real. How could this be real? His brother... Luffy. Was this man really him? This older brunette that Ace had barely just meant, seemed to be giving him so much reassurance. Ace gave a small smile at Luffy's words, deciding that he's let the older continue. "Ace, I'm going to let you have this hat. But, I want you to promise me... That you'll wear it, and push forwards with life, and prove to the world that they were wrong about you." Ace was a little confused at what Luffy was saying but felt that now was no time to question him.

"I will... I Promise." The younger decided at that moment to drop his entire guard and gave Luffy a wide smile, which was rarely seen from him. It made the brunette man smile and laugh happily, quite satisfied with his brother's answer. His gaze soon drifted away from the small child in front of him.

"I think... I'll make a good older brother. Don't you think so too? Ace?" Luffy said this very quietly, barely audible rivaling that of a whisper. Although these words didn't seem to be aimed at the younger Ace, Luffy's gaze was up towards the stars that were starting to appear in the sky. Ace hadn't quite heard what Luffy had said, and simply stayed quiet before Luffy had stood up and disturbed his peace.

"Come one. We better get back and eat." Ace was already full though, he had eaten a lot already but didn't have the will to complain. Smiling, the older boy picked up the younger and carried him in his arm's, Ace still didn't like this babying but noticed that he began to settle and held onto Luffy's cardigan, for once hoping that this all wasn't a dream and that this Luffy wouldn't disappear...

For most of the trip back, Ace was barely awake and muttering thing's every now and again. Luffy smiled for probably the hundredth time that day and made his way to the Thousand Sunny, where everyone had already gone to sleep by the time he returned. Deciding it was too late to eat, He crept into the men's room and paced Ace in his bed gently, not wanting to disturb him. He then made his way outside which he did normally, to contemplate and regret what he had done back on Raftel, and how he was such a horrible human being. _"He didn't deserve it.."_ Luffy muttered before falling asleep on Sunny's head, his dark dreams returning to him once again, as they always did.

**TBC.**

**[AUTHORS NOTES] Yes! Update! I add like 1000 new words to these things just about every time! Once again I have succeeded in giving Ace the proper behavior. Or at least better than before. I hope that my updating this makes the story make a little more sense. Because there were quite a few plot holes before. I'm currently quite excited to update CH 5. Though I will have to do CH 4 first. Either way, I hope you enjoyed this of you're new. If you'd read it before and are here for the update, then I hope you found this better than the original. Cya later ^^**


	4. The blonde Pineapple, the red Akagami

**Freckles that aren't where their supposed to be.**

CHAPTER 4: The Blonde Pineapple, The Red Akagami

* * *

For Ace, usually, mornings were peaceful and quiet. Living in the forest with Luffy was quieter than most would think. Most mornings Ace would wake up before Luffy, and be the only person awake for several miles. At this time the freckled boy would hear only the nature around him, and these small sounds like the birds chirping or the leaves blowing in the gentle morning wind was enough to help Ace prepare himself for the day. So since Ace was quite used to think quite morning routine, He was a bit surprised when he realized that it would NOT be like that today.

The freckled boy who had once again awoken in an unfamiliar room looked around once before realizing the pattern that was occurring. **He was not in his timeline**, but in a different one where everything was set, further into the future? At this point though it didn't matter much to Ace... As important as these facts maybe, he was too overwhelmed to heed them at all. Ace noticed that he'd woke up to find Luffy's hat still resting on his head, he took it off briefly and rested his gaze on the straw hat, bringing back memories from the previous night._' You are important to me Ace.'_ No one had ever said that to him. Not even younger Luffy or Sabo, He knew they felt it but neither of them had ever said it upfront to him. Having this Luffy say was, special. Putting the hat on his head once more, Ace slowly got up from where he had been sleeping and made his way to the door, no one else was sleeping so he assumed everyone else was awake already.

**"What the hell kind of joke were you trying to pull!?"** Ace paused with his hands on the door. He could hear someone shouting outside. He hadn't heard that voice before and it didn't sound very friendly. Ace now didn't know if he should open the door. The new enraged voice was followed by a more recognized one.

"MARCO! Believe me when I say that, **I'M NOT LYING!**" That voice belonged to Luffy? Yes, it did, Ace was sure of it. The other man who was known as _'Marco'_ seemed to be in a foul mood about something. Based on what Ace could hear, he had been threatening Luffy and upsetting him? Why the hell would he do that!? Ace gritted his teeth. Even if this Luffy had only known him for a day, that didn't mean that he wasn't Luffy, because that man was indeed Luffy! Old or not he was the same person! He was Ace's brother. There was no way Ace would stand for him being threatened! Now that Ace thought about it, was he the older or the younger brother? Well, that wasn't important right now...

"You're such a pest! STRAW HAT! You're so undeserving of the title** 'THE PIRATE KING!'** YOI!" It was then at that moment that Ace had heard enough. He clenched his fists and opened the door in anger, his eyes burning with hatred.

"What the hell are you doing to my Onii-san!?" The freckled child shouted as he burst outside. There was silence, and the first person Ace locked eyes with was Luffy!? But... some blonde jerk had pinned Luffy against the mast! The crew members were all arguing too!? What the hell happened!?

"A-Ace?" Luffy choked out, finally bothering to shove the blonde off him. Ace immediately reacted to Luffy's move and went aggressive. He swung his pipe _(that for whatever reason happened to be nearby)_ at the blond stranger who was getting onto his feet after Luffy had shoved him. Successfully whacking his head. The said man winced in pain at the steel making contact with his head.

"OW! What the he-" Marco shouted in anger, but stopped. His gaze met the small child who was giving him a nasty look, and Marco couldn't help but recognize the freckled on the boy's cheeks, his parts black hair, and those eyes. The eyes fill with hate, but were also determined and yet to mature. It couldn't have been... was it really? There was no way. The small boy growled at the blonde, "Don't touch my Onii-san!" Ace threatened. Marco, looking at the child in utter disbelief. Did he say Onii-san? But Luffy's only alive brother was... Top hat... That meant the only other answer, no matter how bizarre it was. This kid was... Ace!? "What the hell.. What the actual hell.. yoi.." Marco uttered in disbelief. Luffy looked at Marco, feeling quite sorry for the blonde. He walked over to him and placed a hand on the man's shoulder, giving him a warm and comforting look with Ace standing at his feet. The child looked quite defensive and stared at Luffy wondering why he was being friendly. Marco flinched when he saw Ace move alongside Luffy.

"Marco." Luffy started, not wanting to cause his half-friend any more confusion. "Just let me explain, it's alright." Marco was about ready to flip. He ignored Luffy's plea and took his hand off his shoulder, then turned to Ace, who stood near Luffy while giving Marco a foul look that wasn't at all welcoming.

"Ace. Your name is Ace, right? yoi." The boy nodded reluctantly, not knowing if he should give him an answer. Luffy put a hand on Ace's head, and the boy looked up, seeing that Luffy was giving him a comforting look that said, _'It's ok.'_ Marco continued, "Do you know who I am?" Ace replied immediately off of instinct, still quite mad at this man.

"Like hell, I would know, All I know is that you tried to hurt Luffy! I don't like you!" Marco was quite surprised by Ace's answer and it lead the blonde to clench his fists in reply, but a sword made it's way along his throat before he could act. Ace was shocked where the sword had come from and Marco peered to the side, seeing the first mate.

"Smart move, Roronoa." Zoro scoffed at his comment. Marco had known that it wasn't a good idea to come, but this was ridiculous. Why the hell was Ace there!? He died 3 years ago! And know he's here as a kid? With no memory of him or the White-beard pirates? The hell was going on! Marco tried to calm down, and softened his clenched hands, seeing that being upset wasn't going to get him anywhere, and it definitely was not the right way to approach the situation.

"Zoro, It's ok," Luffy commanded, and not a moment sooner was the sword placed back in its sheath and Zoro remained on standby. The Captain then motioned to both Zoro and Sanji, telling them to watch over the crew. Zoro and Sanji nodded in agreement and Luffy took hold of Ace's hand, pulling him away from Marco. Ace glanced over his shoulder at the blonde who appeared to be confused, but also quite depressed. What was his problem? He had been hurting Luffy and now he was sad? Regret? It didn't make any sense to Ace, but he did seem to care much.

* * *

After Luffy and Ace and made it to the lookout room, high above everyone else where they couldn't be disturbed, Luffy watched Ace fiddle with his straw hat while waiting for Luffy to start talking. Luffy could see that Ace was still frustrated at Marco, and Luffy couldn't blame him, If it were him, he'd do the exact same thing. But there are times when violence isn't always the answer. After giving a hefty sigh Ace could hear, Luffy took it upon himself to start. "Ace, I need to ask you something." Ace looked halfheartedly at Luffy, for some reason he felt like he had done or said something wrong but he didn't know what it was. At the back of his mind, he was still quite infuriated at that man for what he did, but for some reason the look Luffy was giving him made the boy feel like what he'd done was wrong. He nodded slowly. "Do you know why Marco had pinned me to the mast?" Ace shook his head, as he really didn't know. He only assumed he was doing something bad, but the way Ace saw it, bad or good he'd never simply standby when someone close to him was being hurt. It was simply his nature. Luffy looked at Ace seriously before continuing. "Marco lost two very important people in his life three years ago. He hasn't moved on from it and blames me for what happened. I tried to convince him something and he refused, getting angry." Ace listening carefully, understanding every word that escaped Luffy's mouth as he spoke. As Ace listened more, he felt a small amount of guilt find it's way to his face.

"But, He hurt you..." Ace tried. Looking for an excuse. Luffy gave him a faint smile. Understanding where the brunette was coming from, but he did need to get him to understand.

"I know, But remember that I can look after myself. I'm strong remember?" Ace nodded again, Luffy then ruffled his black wavy hair with his hand and planted another small kiss on his head to Ace's frustration. "I'm happy that you were looking out for me, but don't rush in by yourself. You dumb-ass." Ace took a little offense to Luffy's last statement as he gained a tick mark on his head.

"Oi! Stop doing that! And I'm not a dumb-ass, **_YOU ARE!_**" Ace complained while rubbing his head where Luffy had kissed him, still displeased by the affection he had been given. He hated it when young Luffy would hug him, and having this older Luffy kiss him and treat like a child was no exception. It was one thing that Ace couldn't stand about him.

"Oh? Is that so?" Luffy grinned, and before Ace could even realize it the older man had pulled him into a hug which made the boy annoyed. Struggling to escape Luffy's grasp at first, Ace soon found that it was impossible to escape. Luffy's grip was so strong even when he wasn't trying. Ace wondered how strong the man actually was. Luffy hummed as he held onto his brother, briefly looking out the window only to see that a certain ship was pulling into the docks. "It's SHANKS!" He shouted while grabbing onto Ace's arm and taking him outside the ship. The rubber man sped past Marco and everyone else which shocked them quite a bit. Most of the pirates had ceased arguing when Luffy raced in seeming overly happy, as his only interest was the red-haired man who was about to come see him. "Shanks!" Luffy shouted to the red blur known as Shanks who was getting off his ship, now walking towards the sunny being only a few hundred meter's away.

"Oi Luffy... who is it?" Ace asked out of curiosity, whilst pushing his hat down onto his head. He thought he had heard Luffy say Shanks, which as Ace can remember was the person who had given Luffy the straw hat which was now apparently his.

"It's Shanks! I wanted him to meet you. It only makes sense since I entrusted his hat to you." Ace's thoughts were confirmed by Luffy's answer, and he let a small smile reach his face in anticipation to meet the man. Both brother's waited for the red-haired man to climb aboard, ignoring the comments Marco made towards Luffy that were mainly agitated or confused, which Ace glanced at him and gave a foul look, while Zoro kept Marco in line making sure not to disrupt Luffy.

As Shank's climbed the ladder to board the Thousand Sunny, he couldn't help but notice something off about the Luffy who was looking down at him. He didn't give off that same childish energy as usual. It was a little odd but he ignored it and continued climbing. When Shank's jumped aboard he was met with a Luffy who hugged him tightly. "Geez, Nice to see you too?" Shanks breathed as Luffy let go of him and grinned. Shanks chuckled at the young man's antics, although he still had gotten the impression that there was something different about the look in his eyes. Weird.

"Shanks I've got a surprise for you!" He beamed, with enough light to blind anyone who dared look at him. Chuckling once more, seemingly unaffected by the young man's light, Shanks noticed a small child staying awfully close to Luffy. The child wore a fairly defensive look and this caused Shanks to be a little confused as to who this child was, and why he was with Luffy.

"Who's this Anchor?" Shanks asked looking with his gaze settling on the child, "He's not yours is he?" he teased. Luffy laughed being oblivious to what Shanks was talking about while Ace, having understood the comment he scoffed slightly, not amused by it.

"Don't say stupid stuff like that..." Ace hissed unpleasantly. Shanks studied the boy's features and he couldn't help but feel like he'd seen this child before. The freckles, that black hair, and that face. It didn't take long for Shanks's mind to click, having remembered only one person to have looked anything like this kid. But... It was impossible. And yet, this child seemed to prove him wrong. Ignoring Ace's empty comment, Shanks looked at Luffy again, this time more seriously.

"Oi, Anchor. That kid, he's awfully like a certain hotheaded Pirate." His voice was slow as if he was thinking whether or not he should bring that topic up in front of Luffy. However, the brunette man couldn't understand why Shanks seemed hesitant to ask, so being oblivious he laughed then replied.

"Yeah, Ace has always been hotheaded now that I think about it!" Luffy teased at patted the kids head who seemed rather annoyed by the action. Shanks gave Luffy a confused look, not quite understanding what he'd meant like that. It was only when the kid responded when Shanks truly understood.

"Luffy! I am not hotheaded! You're just annoying!" Shanks's eyes widened in disbelief at what the kid was implying. Was this kid supposed to be Portgas D Ace!? There's was no way that was possible! Sure the kid had similarities with Portgas but there was absolutely no way it was possible! Shanks's gaze returned to Luffy and he asked more concerned if anything.

"Luffy, be serious. That kid couldn't be.." He started before pausing. which confused Ace who was left looking up at the two taller men, keeping close to Luffy despite being bitter at him for calling him hotheaded. The rubber man noticed Shanks's disbelief which seemed more like concern and went silent for a moment before giving him a rather serious look, but it still seems welcoming to some.

"He is Shanks. He's Ace." Shanks sweatdropped at that statement still doubtful, then Luffy continued "I'll explain later ok?" Feeling a bit defeated by Luffy's look, Shanks sighed and agreed before he looked at Ace again for confirmation, there was always the possibility, even if it did seem impossible. "Anyway, Shanks, Thanks for coming by and not hitting me, like Mr. Pineapple behind me." Shanks peered behind Luffy and spotted Marco and company surrounded by the Straw hat pirates.

"Marco?" Shanks questioned looking at the Pineapple haired man who seemed to also be in a bit of a foul mood. "Well, he doesn't seem very welcoming." Shanks joked.

"He uh, didn't take the news that well," Luffy stated and gestures to Ace slightly, who at this point wasn't paying much attention to Luffy's and Shank's conversation, and was instead playing with the string on Luffy's straw hat. Shanks wondered why Ace was wearing the hat he'd entrusted to Luffy. But it didn't take long before the Akagami simply started laughing while insisting on having a party to help liven things up. Luffy didn't disagree, in fact, he was quite excited to have a party. Even Marco was down for a few bottles of rum.

* * *

It took hours of preparation but the party turned out amazing! drinks were drunken, and songs were sung. Even Marco had a good time, which was rare given his mental state. As the party grew close to an end, Ace had fallen asleep on Luffy's lap whilst listening to Shanks sing 'Binks Sake' with Brook as the instrumental. Luffy cheered him on and when the song finished, Luffy left to put Ace to bed. It was funny how sometimes only Luffy could take note of the small things Ace did that seemed rather out of character. Like when he would cling to his shorts, or stay probably a bit too close to him than usual, or how he refused to remove Luffy's straw hat from his head. Luffy enjoyed every second with Ace, as it distracted him from his deep fears and nightmares that awaited him each night... Luffy would do anything to help avoid having those dreams that haunted him. Yet, at times when the brunette would look at the freckled boy, he couldn't help but be reminded of those dreams... When Ace was once again asleep in Luffy's bed. The Pirate king sat near the railing of the ship, where he was soon accompanied by Shanks and Marco.

"Oi." The blond man called, gaining Luffy's attention. "It's about time you explain to us the crap that's been going on here, yoi." A grin made it's way across Luffy's face, hiding his tortured thoughts through his smiling teeth. He turned to the two and nodded in delight, finally ready to explain to them what had occurred. Or most of it anyway... But before he started, Shanks spoke up.

"Wait, before you explain anything, is that kid actually Portgas?" Marco was wondering the exact same thing. Luffy's smile softened as he nodded and hummed in response. "But how the hell is that possible?" Shanks questioned, Marco, agreeing with his wonder as he was also in disbelief. The brunette boy went quiet for a moment, looking as if he was trying to figure out how to word his response, before starting his explanation.

"I asked Robin, and she said that Ace had probably traveled from the past into this timeline." Both Shanks and Marco's mouth's dropped, that was the most absurd theory they had ever heard.

"O-Oi, are you serious? yoi?" The phoenix uttered. "How is that even possible!?" A little bit of frustration made it's way across his sentence, he was obviously displeased with the situation and didn't know how to react.

"It is possible... erm... It's the new world so anything could happen. And.. uh... he knows who he is. He has all of Ace's memories from our childhood." Luffy pointed out, trying to get the other two to see reason, Marco shook his head in contemplation, while Shanks took notice of Luffy's pause. Something didn't sit right with him. "Please believe me," Luffy added, trying his best to persuade them. Shanks was the first one to answer.

"Y'know Anchor, you've gotten a whole lot more mature since I last saw you; I'm proud. I trust you." Luffy smiled at the red-haired man's response, happy that he'd gotten through to one of them. With a grin found on his face, he asked. "I've gotten mature?" Almost not knowing what the words meant. The Yonko smiled in return, looking at Luffy fully and truly seeing the growth of the young man. Even he had only seen him a few months ago, something seemed to have changed. He continued. "Yea, you're nothing like the last time I saw you. So calm and collected. It's different but it puts a smile on my face to see you growing up." He grinned at pat Luffy on the head, leaving the brunette satisfied and happy. It wasn't long before Shanks left to join in on the party again. Luffy was left with a rather quiet Marco at his side.

"I'm sorry." Was all the blonde could manage, not happy about his actions from earlier that day. "For?" Luffy asked, not sure what the man was apologizing for. Everything Marco had done he had good reasons for. Luffy didn't hold anything against him because he would have done the same thing. "When I got here this morning asking what was up. You said that Ace was here and I totally flipped out..." The boy chuckled at the blonde's antics, There had been no harm done. Or at least not much. But Luffy could take a punch or two, and with Armament Haki it's not like they'd hurt all that much. Luffy was just thankful Ace hadn't come out when he was getting beaten. He knew he was capable of fighting back and overpowering the blonde, but there are times when you need to throw a punch, and when you need to take one.

"It's ok. You didn't mean any of it. But good luck explaining that to Ace." Marco lowered his head at the thought of having to explain what he'd done to young Ace. When Marco had first met Ace he did have a temper, and he was quite reckless, but this kid seemed just as bad if not worse. It would definitely be hard to get through to him... There was most likely no way he could convince the kid that he was Luffy's_ 'friend'_ after the stunt he pulled this morning. The blonde sighed and stayed quiet before noting,

"Y'know, he called you his older brother this morning. Seemed a little out of character. Don't you think?" A hint of tease was in his voice and Luffy was a little shocked. He had barely even noticed that Ace had called him that. But now that he thought about it, he can remember Ace using the words _'Onii-san'_ to address him. Huh, so he did call him an older brother. The thought brought a smile to Luffy's face.

"I suppose you're right..." Luffy smiled at the phoenix and continued. "I hope you stay with us for a while, then maybe you can warm up to Ace, and get him to _'trust'_ you." The statement was valid. Marco did need to befriend this new Ace. It was simply so hard to think that the same Ace who was like a brother him was now so small and emitting hatred towards him. It seemed wrong. And Marco had discussed it with the crew earlier. They all agreed that it was simply not right. The fact that none of them will board the ship was one thing, but not even wanting to see Ace from disbelief was another. Maybe Marco would actually be able to befriend this Ace if he tried hard enough... But it wasn't the same as last time. Ace was different. Could he really have a bond with this kid like how he did with Ace? He was still unsure at this point but that didn't mean he couldn't try, right?

**TBC.**

**[AUTHORS NOTES] **

**Ah yes, and just like that, I have updated yet another chapter. Whilst neglecting my other stories. Me and my favoritism. Well, I did enjoy redoing this and like usual I added on an extra 1000 words so there is a lot more content. Thinking of updating CH 5 next, then after that, I'll write the next chapter for 'The blue gentlemen, and the straw hat'. After that, I'll update some more of this story, but I honestly don't know what I'll do with '****Sm****okey Letters' I can honestly see myself simply deleting it an focusing on this story and my other one. If you have an opinion on that you're welcome to state your opinion in a review. I hope you enjoyed this chapter if it was new for you or liked this updated version if you'd read the old one. I'll see you all later.**


	5. Brotherly moments, stupid nerves

**Freckles that aren't where their supposed to be.**

CHAPTER 5: Brotherly moments, Stupid Nerves.

* * *

Once again, a young freckled boy had awoken in a not so familiar place, although it was beginning to be familiar simply from having woken up in it three times already. The past two days had been so confusing and he was still getting used to it all. The party last night was really fun but that yellowed haired man was getting on Ace's nerves. He didn't enjoy the blonde's company at all and just wished he would hurry up and leave although it seemed as if that wouldn't happen anytime soon, unfortunately...

Ace had come to notice that he would normally wake up in Luffy's bed alone, by himself. Ace wondered if perhaps Luffy would wake up early, although he doesn't remember the smaller Luffy being like this at all. The Luffy he knew would sleep in till he smelt meat, or if Ace himself and smacked him awake. It wasn't an ideal lifestyle but Ace had gotten used to it. But to see this Luffy wake up so early was a little strange. However, that was not the case this morning as when Ace's eyes finally opened, when the feeling was brought back to his limbs, he had felt a heavyweight pressed against him which wasn't at all something the freckled boy was used to when waking up. Ace struggled to sit up and failed to do so when he realized that he was mostly covered by a sleeping Luffy head to toe. Ace was definitely shocked by the close contact but he then felt his forehead ache a little, He placed a hand on it and he could tell that it was a little too warm. It was probably from all the excitement last night so Ace hadn't thought too much of it.

Dismissing the thoughts of his forehead, Ace's gaze moved towards the 20-year-old who slept before him. To Ace's surprise, there were wet tear stains left on Luffy's cheeks. Ace hadn't expected that at all. He reached up and placed his small hand on his brother's cheek, wiping away the few tears that lingered there. They were still wet which meant that Luffy mustn't have been asleep for very long. Obviously not what the boy had expected. He laid back down on the bed, not wanting to disturb his brother. The freckled boy wondered why Luffy would have been crying in his sleep, or before he slept. This Luffy seemed so happy-go so the pieces just didn't add up. Ace turned to face Luffy, wondering if this new brother of his really was alright, but couldn't help but stare at the _'X'_ shaped scar on his chest.

"Where did you get this from Luffy?" The younger boy uttered, nearing a whisper as he traced along the outside of the scar with his finger, The wound would have been extremely serious when it had first been made. Where did Luffy get it from? And why wasn't he there to protect him? Actually, now that Ace thought about it. If he was in the future, then that meant that there was an older him there right? That must be why everyone knew him because they had met him in this timeline.

"Where am I?"Ace whispered, placing his hand on his brother's chest, feeling his heartbeat. Luffy's breathing was steady and slow. It was calming and nice, which Ace appreciated after all the excitement he'd had these past days. However, the calmness didn't last long.

"Mmm-Morning Ace." The boy's heartbeat stopped for a second, he'd been quite shocked by the sudden voice, and he quickly looked up from his brother's scar to see that Luffy was rubbing his eyes and smiling at Ace. Even though he had blurry vision from only just waking up, Luffy could see how Ace's hands were held on his scar. "Wh-What are you doi'n? Ace?" Seeing that Luffy had noticed what he had been doing, the freckled boy's face went red of embarrassment, he quickly removed his hands from his brother whilst fumbling to find an excuse for his actions.

"U-Uhm, I w-was.." The child tried, with no luck. Luffy found a soft smile reach his face and he ruffled the boy's hair, having realized what the problem was.

"Ah, I see you're interested in my scar." Ace's face burned red as his brother had worked out what was wrong. Doubting his voice, Ace simply nodded, attempting to hide his red face from Luffy without any luck since the young man had not moved off of Ace in the slightest. Ace found Luffy's closeness slightly awkward, and he didn't know how to feel about it. Part of him wished he would just get off and get away from him, but another part wished the older brother would stay close, closer even at times... But Ace couldn't think like that as it wasn't like him to be so fond of others like that. Luffy, on the other hand, was not wanting to explain his scar to Ace at all, given as how he had gotten it brought back painful memories... Memories he didn't want to remember. It was like a part of himself he never wanted to face again. "I got it in a fight." Was all he could manage and was willing to say. Ace was slightly disappointed with how little his brother said, but accepted it as it was probably a hard topic to talk about. Which Ace understood and let it go. "By the way." Luffy started, snapping the boy out of his short daze.

"Marco and I were talking last night, and that Pineapple told me that he noticed how you called me _'Onii-san'_ yesterday morning." At this point, Ace paused when Luffy had said that. Ace flicked through his memory, not member ever saying that, but he then remembered that he had indeed said those exact words the other day. There was no excuse, the word had simply slipped out with Ace noticing. Seeing as Ace was a stuttering and nervous mess, Luffy ruffled his hair once more, chuckling at the small boy's antics. "Ace, you know that you're welcome to call me that." He wrapped his arms around his brother, who had only just calmed down from his embarrassment, but the embrace made the young boy's cheek flush once more. Why couldn't Luffy just stop all this physical contact!? It was really showing Ace's flustered side, which he didn't want to show at all.

"W-Whatever.." The freckled child breathed, trying to stay assertive. He didn't know what it was but whenever he was with this older Luffy, it's as if all his senses stop working. He ends up being so vulnerable for literally no reason, which was annoying the brunette child that he'd act like that. But looking at Luffy's warm and comforting face, his wide eyes that seemed so concerned for his well being, and his smile that seemed to make even the darkest storm disappear, Ace couldn't help but want to be close... He mentally scolded himself for thinking like that, but it seemed as if there was nothing he could do when his body reacted and returned the embrace. Luffy chuckled when his now _'younger'_ brother returned his hug, however even with the large grin on the older brother's face, he couldn't help but feel some guilt leak into his expression. Looking at the small child before him brought back memories and things he had done that he now regrets. Like Sabaody Archipelago, Impel Down, Marineford... and... Raftel... _(laugh-tale)_

"What is this?" Luffy questioned, trying to discard the thought of that place. "Is Ace. Portgas D Ace, actually giving me a hug?" The older teased to Ace's annoyance, who tried to think of a reason for his actions but he failed to do so and resorted to frustration.

"Sh-Shuddup..." Ace mumbled, but he hadn't tried very hard knowing Luffy had already won this conversation. Instead, Luffy could see a small pout reach Ace's face which the older found quite comical. But he decided that he'd teased the boy enough for now.

"Ne, why don't we go get some breakfast?" Luffy attempted, which brought Ace out of his nervous state, nodding happily at that statement. Luffy grinned wider and finally got up from his bed, releasing Ace from the position he'd been trapped in. The freckled boy stretched now having more room to do so and then smiled nicely for once as he accompanied Luffy to the kitchen, where wondrous dishes Sanji had prepared lay in wait.

* * *

When the two brunettes walked into the kitchen, several people were already eating while others had sat at the table talking. Ace tried to match a name with each face and succeeded with, Robin, Sanji, Zoro, Chopper, Shanks, and that damn Pineapple, but wasn't sure who the long-nosed man was, he had heard Luffy say his name before but couldn't remember it.

"Morning Sanji! Food!" The older brother called, causing the curly-browed man to cringe at his words. Both Luffy and Ace took a seat on the stools which were located near the counter while Ace had received several glares from the phoenix who sat quietly with Zoro who had, as usual, fallen asleep. Ace simply didn't know what that guy's problem was. It was as if him existing bothered the guy. Well, Ace already had to deal with enough of that crap. What difference did it make if there was one more person who didn't like his existence?

"Morning Luffy, Ace." The kind blond spoke, obtaining a small smile from Ace. Out of all Luffy's crew members, Ace seemed to enjoy Sanji's company the most. He did like Robin but he could never be loud around her, which was annoying since Ace was a rather loud child Chopper was also very nice but the deer simply seemed to worry too much about Ace's well being. He'd grown up in a jungle for crying out loud he could handle a scratch or two at least. The chef placed to bowls before the brothers, telling Ace he could have as much as he wanted, however scolding Luffy saying he could only have what was given. The Pirate King pouted at his cook's words but stuffed his face nonetheless.

"Oi, Luffy." A feminine voice called from the door. Ace watched as his older brother turned to see the red-haired women from a while ago. She was the one who dropped him from being unable to hold him steady. She must be pretty weak if she couldn't even keep hold of a small 11-year-old.

"Yeah, Nami?" The Captain asked, wondering why she had come to see him this early in the morning. In the background Sanji was now dancing in a rather odd manner, hearts popping out of his eyes while his cigarette puffed out hearts. Ace found it a little disturbing so he turned back to the women who appeared to be annoyed about something unknown to him.

"YOU IDIOT! This is what happens when you invite the Yonko over!" She pulled on Luffy's cheek which in return stretched out, causing his face to look abnormally wide. A few people in the room to chuckle, obviously, it seemed that this treatment wasn't anything new. When the demon women let go of Luffy's face, his cheek stretched back to where it belonged, he rubbed it and winced in pain.

"OWIE! NAMI THAT **HURT!** Not even Armament Haki can save me!" The younger man shrieked, giving the redhead a displeased look as he rubbed his cheeks, Ace laughed a little at the two. Their friendship was a rather odd one. However Ace also wondered what the word Luffy used was. _'Armament Haki'_? What was that supposed to be?

"Luffy! Because of you that damn _'Surgeon of death'_ is on his way! He'll be here tomorrow! I can't believe of all people you'd ask him to come! I mean Shanks and Marco I understand, But him!? **Why!?**" The dissatisfied look that Luffy wore immediately vanished at the mention of the surgeon. Ace, on the other hand, was a little confused. Who on earth was this surgeon? And what the hell was his connection to Luffy? With all of Ace's question's unanswered, Luffy quickly stood up, ignoring all of the red-haired women shouts and ramblings about not wanting that man to be there. It didn't take long before Luffy had ran out of the room.

"Wh-Where is he going? Ace uttered, confused about what had happened. Why did Luffy need to leave in such a hurry? Was that guy really that important?

"He's gone to the main room probably. I bet he's gonna give that damn Yonko a call. You probably should just wait here." The women explained still rather bitter about the situation. Ace pouted slightly at her comment, not wanting to wait and wanting to go see Luffy. With an annoyed scowl on the boy's face, He got up from the stool and went and sat down at the table. The annoying blonde man refused to remove the brunette boy from his view and Ace could tell that he was watching him. Since Ace was now already annoyed, he decided to speak up.

"The hell is your problem?" Ace scoffed, expecting an answer. Marco sighed to himself before his eyes found themselves looking away before he answered.

"Nothing..." Ace knew that the Pineapple was indeed thinking about something, but didn't care enough to try and get any answers from him. Instead, he just acted like his normal self which to Ace's advantage, meant being a jerk to people.

"You're annoying." The freckled boy stated plainly, wanting the blond man to leave. Marco didn't reply or object. He simply gave a hefty sigh that was audible to Ace. "You got a problem with me or something!?" The freckled boy bitterly asked, to which he received no answer as the blonde had started to ignore the child. Shanks grew loud and smacked the table where he was seated next to Ace. It seemed as if he was laughing at a joke the long-nosed man had said.

"Usopp that's great! Man, you really are just like your father!" The older teen named _'Usopp'_ smiled at the remark, laughing the whole time. Ace didn't quite understand the situation between those two at all and tried to ignore them, turning his gaze to Marco once more, simply giving the blonde a bitter glare. However, it wasn't long before Shanks had turned to Ace, leaving Usopp to talk with Chopper.

"Hey there Ace!" The older man shouted joyously, he seemed to be a little too drunk but that was normal for the red-haired Yonko. Ace nodded in reply, still frustrated at Marco's existence. He'd had such a nice and welcoming morning with Luffy, but these **'extras'** seemed to just be making his morning worse and worse. After Shanks's laughing fit, he gave Ace a solid pat on the back continuing, "Hey, Ace! How's my hat been doing?" The Yonko inquired happily. But there was almost nothing that could snap the boy out of his frustrations.

"Hm?" Ace asked, obviously not listening to what Shanks had been saying which earned the Yonko a tick mark. He placed his hand on the boy's hat that sat nicely on his head, then pushed it down which successfully blocked the kid's eyesight, whilst laughing. Ace, on the other hand, did not think the joke was funny. He pulled his hat up and glared at Shanks, not impressed at all.

"The hell was that for!?" He commanded, swatting the man's hand away in frustration. He just wanted a nice peaceful morning but everyone was just being so annoying!

"For ignoring me, you dumb-ass." the redhead teased, poking out his tongue and infuriating the boy. Suddenly Shanks was out the door shouting, "CATCH ME IF YOU CAN Y'SHRIMP!" Marco simply sighed at Shanks's reaction. For a man who was about 40 or so, he sure did act like a child. However Ace quickly followed behind pipe in hand which had been left near the kitchen door. The boy ran around the outer ship, looking for the stupid Yonko, whilst making sure his hat didn't fall off. Ace chased after the red-haired man for a few minutes, being unsuccessful. It wasn't until Ace heard a laugh coming from a room nearby that he finally decided to give up the search for the older man. He put an ear to the door and instantly recognized the voice.

"OI! TORAO! What's up!?" It was Luffy. But who was _'Torao'_? could he be the surgeon that was mentioned earlier? As Ace decided to keep quiet and listen to the conversation, a new voice was heard.

"Luffy-ya, you're the one who called me... besides I already talked to navigator-ya ab-" The voices got blurry, what was happening? And as if the world were against Ace, the door decided that it was the right time to creak open and let Ace face plant onto the wooden planks. He winced when his face hit the wood, although the pain didn't seem to emit from his face, instead from his elbow which had been bandaged. Damn, he must have opened the small graze there.

"Ow... Damn door..." The boy held his bandaged elbow and placed his pipe down.

"ACE!" Luffy shouted from the den den-mushi. Ace looked up to see a very excited Luffy who was using a den den-mushi, but the voice on the other end didn't at all seem very inviting.

"What about Ace-ya? Luffy-ya! What the hell are you talking about?" So it appeared that this man had met Ace's older self as well? Gee, it seemed that lot's of people had met the Ace from this timeline. Ace could only wonder why while Luffy continued smiling and replied.

"It was supposed to be a surprise, but I guess you can know Torao." Luffy then turned to Ace who was still sitting on the floor. "OI ACE! Come meet Torao!" A huff was heard on the other end which Ace could only wonder about. This man, or.. _'Torao'_ as Luffy called him, really didn't seem all that friendly.

"Would you quit calling me that..." The voice said bitterly. Ace let go of his elbow, which still ached slightly, but decided to dismiss the thought before he stood up and made his way over to the speaker. Luffy gave it to the boy who spoke up.

"Uhm, This is Ace?" The freckled boy wasn't exactly sure what he was meant to say, but it seemed to be enough. Because the line went quiet, and after a small minute of silence, Torao or whatever his name was, gave a long sigh that made it seem like he was frustrated, before replying.

"Luffy-ya, what the hell did you do?" Luffy sweat-dropped at the man's words, while Ace continued being confused. He really needed to ask Luffy lots of questions... About him, about all the people who knew him, and about why everyone always seemed to be surprised when they saw him. Ace was expecting proper answers next time.

"N-Nothing! We just found him! But you've got to hurry up and get over here Torao! **HURRY!**" The older brother pleaded.

"It's Law, Luffy-ya... You really should use my actual name..." Ah, so his name was Law. At least that was one question answered, but why was it that this _'Law'_ guy just seemed to be so bitter about everything? you could tell by his voice like he was disappointed about something, anything? everything? Ace had never met someone so, exhausting to be around. "Anyway, Luffy-ya, you've got a whole lot of explaining to do... We both know that Portga- **[KACHA]** It was then at that moment, that Luffy hung up, even though Law was a dear friend to Luffy, he couldn't help but sigh at his frustration at what he'd nearly done. The damn surgeon had almost told the kid he was dead! Still confused, Ace took Luffy's hand and looked up at him, wanting answers.

"What was that about?" He questioned to Luffy's displeasure, there was no way in hell he would tell Ace that, of all things! Well, at least not yet. But now was not the time to even be debating telling him such a thing.

"Nothi'n." He replied instantly before picking Ace up and placing him on his shoulders, similar to what he had done last time. Ace didn't expect Luffy to pick him up at all and struggled a bit to attempt to free himself. However, it failed to Ace's annoyance.

"OI! I told you to stop doi'n this!" Ace growled, unhappy that he was always treated as a child by his brother. Even if Luffy was much than him now, that didn't mean he had the right to treat him like a kid. It's not that Ace didn't like it, but he simply wouldn't admit it. It made him seem so vulnerable and weak. And that is not what Ace was.

"Well too bad cause I'm the older brother now remember?" Luffy poked his tongue out and Ace had no choice but to do as told. Luffy left the room and continued, "Let's go finish breakfast shall we?" Ace nodded with yet again a red face, hoping that Luffy would put him down before they got into the kitchen. He simply didn't know why only Luffy could make him get nervous. It was so unlike Ace it nearly made him sick to his stomach. But hey, it was Luffy after all. There wasn't much he could do. While Ace was being carried, Luffy's mind drifted to Marineford... To the war that had changed the world... To the **death** that had changed everything.. for the world, and especially for him. How would he explain it all to his now younger brother...?

**TBC.**

**[AUTHORS NOTES] **

**Wow! Two chapter updates in one day!? Gee, I must be crazy. Or just super interested in this story again. I find it fun to redo all these chapters. It makes the story longer and better placed than before. Like more signs that I didn't have last time which made the plot hard to understand. Hope this makes it better somewhat.**


	6. Unanswered questions, in the dark

**Freckles that aren't where their supposed to be.**

CHAPTER 6: Unanswered Questions, In the dark.

* * *

After Breakfast, which on the Sunny was extremely loud, the freckled boy made his way to the front of the ship where he sat down and looked out into the sea. He really did need some time to think about everything. There were so many questions he had and yet so little of them had actually been answered. Sure, Ace learned how he got to the future, which was an entirely new problem itself, but there were other questions the boy wanted answered. Like, Why is it that when everyone had met him they were so surprised or in utter disbelief? Like Shanks or Marco. And why is it that no one has ever mentioned his present self? And the most confusing was when Law had made that unfinished statement on the den den-mushi. _'Luffy-ya, we both know that Portg-'_ He went over the phrase in his mind. Since Luffy had hung up the phone so quickly, it was obvious that he hadn't wanted Ace to hear whatever it was Law was going to say.

Even though he wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed, Ace could still tell that Luffy, and everyone else most likely, were hiding things from him. He wanted answers and he wanted them now. But it seemed as though they would never be answered. The boy pulls on his straw hat, covering his eyes with it, But it wasn't long before someone had spoken up.

"Ace."

He looked up and saw Marco, or better known as the _'Damn Pineapple'_ and ignored him, which didn't do him any good as it was a moment later before the blonde joined him on the wooden planks. Ace held a scowl on his face, but it wasn't seen thanks to Luffy's hat covering his eyes. Marco shook his head at Ace. This kid really was the real deal. Just looking at him brought the blonde fond memories of the freckled man he was so close to. Still, Marco would try to befriend this kid, as no one else in the crew seemed to even want to say Hi to him.

"Y'know." Marco started, wanting to get out what he had been quite desperate to say since this morning. Ace tried to ignore him but it seemed almost impossible. The man couldn't help but let a smile make it's way to his face. The nostalgia was hitting him hard. "Ace. Did you know that this is how you acted when we first met?" The statement piqued the boy's interest. He wasn't surprised by his statement though, he seemed like a reasonable jerk so he could understand why even his older self wouldn't be very fond of him. Ace lifted his hat that covered his face and looked up at the blonde, seeing a gentle smile lingering on his face. What was he so happy about?

"How did you know me?" Was Ace's only reply. Perhaps he could get some answers out of this pineapple. There was a moment of silence before Marco replied.

"Well, I don't see any harm in telling you, so; you ready for a story? It'll probably only be short though. If you don't mind that." Ace decided to let a small smile make it's way to his face. He never smiled at anyone aside from Luffy, Sanji or Robin. _(And also Sabo back in his old timeline)_ Ace didn't know if he was willing to let this man see his smile, After all, he hadn't enjoyed his company at all since coming. Marco noticed even the smallest change of expression on Ace's face and thought that perhaps this may work. Now quite happy that the boy was accepting him even a little, he began. "I knew you Ace because you were the second commander of the Whitebeard pirates." Confusion filled Ace's eyes at that statement.

"Wait... I wasn't the captain of my own ship? Like hell that would happen!" The boy barked, not happy with the blond's explanation. Marco chuckled in return, this kid sure was the Ace he could remember.

"It may not seem possible right now, but it's true. You were very powerful, and White-beard took you in." Ace scowled a little, not happy with his response. He didn't need this _'Whitebeard'_ He had Luffy. That's all he needed. Like hell, he joined some random persons crew? Yonko or not by Ace's assumption that was still no excuse for him to join anyone's crew aside from Luffy. Because truth be told if Ace ever did join a crew, it would have been Luffy's. Not White beard's crew.

"But-"

"Don't worry, it's not your older self liked the idea either. It took you ages to finally accept it." Ace had an annoyed look lingering on his face, but then he realized something rather important. Now linking this new information to Marco, he now wondered something that had been on his mind all morning.

"But Marco, aren't you the captain of the Whitebeard Pirates?" Which was true, and honestly, the question caught the phoenix off guard. He had a feeling that he knew where Ace was going with this. But he attempted to steer the conversation into another direction, away from Ace's self in this timeline. Because Marco didn't know why, but he just had this feeling that's what Ace was wondering about.

"Yea, I took over after old man Whitebeard was killed." He stated honestly. Although he hates to think about the time Whitebeard was killed, it was necessary since this was Ace of all people.

"Then... Where am I?" Silence. Oh crap! He said too much! And after he'd try to not get Ace to ask that! There was no way he could avoid the question. It was obvious that the kid would want to know about himself eventually even Marco could predict that much. That was definitely the last thing Luffy would have wanted Marco to tell the freckled boy. He had to dodge it somehow otherwise that rubber brunette would never forgive him.

"Uh, you're... Really far away..." That was a horrible save, but it seemed to satisfy the kid seeming as a slightly bigger smile made it's way to his face.

"So I guess I did get to travel distant oceans..." Marco's nerves were almost out, hoping the kid wouldn't catch on to his indirect answer. Ace, on the other hand, noticed how easy it was to get information from this guy. Perhaps he could use that to his advantage. He looked up and questioned the blonde. "Hey, Why doesn't Luffy or anyone else mention me? My older self I mean." Like hell Marco was gonna answer that. He could tell that Ace was now just pushing for information, and Marco wasn't at all willing to tell him. It seemed wrong to keep this stuff from the kid but he had no right to tell him. Because if it wasn't what Luffy wanted then he'd have to pay the price for going against him. The man sighed at his thoughts and then followed with a shrug.

"Beat's me. But you should probably ask Luffy that one." Ace was more than disappointed with his answer. After pulling out a fake smile, the blonde stood up and remembered the reason he was even there to see the boy in the first place. "Oh, that reminds me. Sorry about what I did to Luffy the other day. I really didn't mean it... I can just flip out sometimes..." Ace nodded as a reply, not wanting to say anything else as he remembered Luffy being pinned to the center mast yesterday.

"Just, don't do it again." Was all the boy said before standing up and walking away to who knows where. Marco simply smiled as he had at least made a little progress with the brat. And a little was better than nothing at the very least. Hopefully, he could get back even a little piece of the friendship he'd made with the freckled man. But one step at a time.

* * *

After walking around aimlessly, Ace decided that he would head into the kitchen once again. He wasn't really hungry but did enjoy Sanji's company. Ace would prefer to be with Luffy, feeling like aside from waking up he hadn't spent much time with his brother, but was disappointed when he couldn't find him anywhere. Ace entered the kitchen and found that Sanji was cooking lunch while Nami was drinking some tea at the table next to Zoro who remained asleep from this morning. Luffy was nowhere to be found yet again which was disappointing as usual, but Ace proceeded to take a seat on a stool, being greeted by the nicer blond as usual.

"Hey there Ace, can I get you anything?" The chef inquired, causing the boy to smile a little. He thought for a moment, not being hungry but was actually feeling quite thirsty. He hadn't drunk anything and it had been getting really hot out today now that the kid thought about it.

"Some lemonade?" Ace said still unsure of himself. However, apparently Sanji was really good at making it so it seemed to be the best option at the time. Sanji did as told and grabbed some lemons from the pantry. Whilst Ace's gaze went to the navigator who continued sipping at her tea while reading the paper.

"You're Nami right?" Ace voiced, gaining the women's attention. She looked up and saw the boy looking back at her. Giving him a nice smile as she replied simply,

"Yep." Sanji made his way back to Ace and placed his lemonade near him to which Ace was excited to try. Luffy had told him good things about Sanji's drinks so Ace was excited to try them for himself. The taste was somewhat bitter but then ended sweet, which was very enjoyable to Ace's liking. Only a second had gone by before Nami voiced,

"Ne, Sanji-Kun, look." She held out the paper so that both Sanji and Ace could see. "It's Jinbei-san, he defeated Kidd and is headed back to the ship!" Ace looked that Nami confused about what she was talking about. However, the expression on Sanji's face told Ace that the blonde had known what the woman was talking about.

"That's great! I'll be sure to make lots for his arrival." Ace simply sat at the counter, utterly confused.

"Uh, who is this _'Jinbei?'_ you're both talking about?" Nami giggled slightly at Ace's question and answered happily,

"He's a member of our crew, a Fishman. He's awesome at Fishman karate and saved Luffy when he-" Nami paused, dammit! She almost slipped up. Quickly finding her words she continued, "-uh, when he fought the Marines." Which was sort of true? But Marineford was the last thing Nami wanted to think about, or any of the Straw hat crew because none of them had been there for Luffy when he needed them the most, it was lucky for Jinbei that he had even made it out alive. The crew were all in debt to that Fishman, they treated him with respect because of everything he had done for Luffy. Ace wasn't so sure that she was telling the truth. Like Luffy said, he was strong. He could totally handle himself from what the freckled boy had seen these past three days. So why lie? What was there to hide? And why the hell was he not allowed to know!?

"Right..." Was all Ace could manage, not impressed at all. Seeming as there was now an awkward silence lingering in the room, Sanji decided to voice a suggestion.

"Hey, Ace. Why don't you go tell Luffy about Jinbei coming back? I'm sure he'd be thrilled about it." The 11-year-old was utterly unable to have an opinion on the situation, so did as told asking where Luffy was as he hadn't seen him since breakfast. "He went to go and have a shower. I'm sure he's long since finished and is probably getting dressed in the men's room." At that statement, Nami scrunched up her face in displeasure and complained,

"Ew gross, don't even talk about that." Sanji immediately obeyed the women's commands while Ace made a break for the door. After finding his way to the men's quarters he peaked his head inside to see that it was empty.

"Oi." He asked out to the empty room, hoping Luffy would reply. Sadly no one was there, only a wet towel that must have been Luffy's meaning he had been there. He couldn't be far off then. Ace took his leave, looking up at the sun which was nicely heating the ship to a comfortable temperature. After looking around almost the whole ship of what Ace had already seen, The young boy finally found his _'older'_ brother resting on Sunny's head. Ace had barely been able to spot him since he had been lying down and Sunny's head was so big.

"Oh! Luffy!" Ace called out as he approached the front of the ship. The older brother sat upturned to see the younger heading his way. His face at first was quite blank, as if he'd been in deep thought but then he smiled and grinned as Ace ran over to Sunny's head.

"Hi, Ace!" He waved and the freckled boy did the same. Luffy motioned for him to climb onto Sunny's head which was an easy task for the boy. "What's up?" He voiced as Ace sat down beside him.

"Sanji and Nami told me to tell you that uh, _'Jinbei'_? is coming back from taking down _'Kidd'_? or something." Luffy instantly perked up at the mention of the Fishman, obviously eager for him to see Ace.

"That's great! I can't wait for him to meet you!"Ace smiled at the older brother's remark. It was nice that so many people were so happy to see him. For Ace, he'd lived his first 11 years never having anyone who even cared about his existence. Only Luffy and Sabo. But after the blonde was killed only Luffy was there for him. It was so crazy to have come to this timeline and have so many people wanting to meet him and happy to see him.

"Hey, so, who is Kidd? Sanji and Nami told me who Jinbei was but..." A little bit of confusion made it's way to Luffy's expression. Why did Ace even care? Either way, he explained.

"Kidd was a pirate who we were friends with, but then he turned against us after I became the Pirate King." It was a simple answer that Ace fully understood for once. It seemed that even the Pirate King had troublesome allies. Ace nodded in response and Luffy started talking about some weird adventure his crew had years ago. Something about going to a Sky Island? Luffy was about halfway through his story talking about someone called _'Enel'_ who was a god or something, however that was when Nami walked up to the front deck. Holding a den den-mushi in hand.

"Luffy! The mushi's for you." The captain pouted, not wanting to end his story so soon. Ace was also a little disappointed, as the story was just getting interesting.

"Ohh, but Nami... Who is it?" Luffy groaned, sad that time with his younger brother was being wasted by a simple call.

"It's your stupid br-" However the navigator caught herself mid-sentence, Almost messing up for the second time that day. "Uhm, It's The Revolutionaries." Luffy perked up lots more when he found out that Sabo was on the other end. But oh man, how could he not get Ace to hear their conversation? He guessed he just had to have faith. It's not like Ace could recognize the blonde's voice, seeing as he would be about 13 years older. Nami handed the speaker to Luffy, which was turned down a few notches so it wouldn't be at an ear-piercing volume.

"Hey there!" Luffy spoke, trying to avoid saying Sabo's name. Ace simply watched, wondering who his now _'older'_ brother was on the mushi with, because as far as he knew it was a Revolutionary? But why would Luffy know one of them? It didn't seem to add up.

"Hi, Lu! How're you doi'n!? I've got some awesome news!" Ace looked at the mushi and tilted his head in confusion. Why did that voice sound, familiar? It was all so mind-boggling for the young boy. But wait, _'Lu!?'_ why was this revolutionary or whatever getting so comfortable when talking to his brother!? Ace hardly ever called Luffy that! However, that was due to him being too prideful and not wanting to sound too passive.

"Wow really!? What is it!? Tell me!" Luffy forced his voice, making it sound much happier than it really was. At this point, Ace really wanted to voice an opinion, but when he went to do so. Luffy had put a finger on his mouth then smiled, obviously telling the boy to be quiet. At first, Ace was annoyed by Luffy wanting him to be quiet, almost willing to speak up just for the sake of it, but decided that he probably should stay quite.

"Same old Luffy. Uh, so Dragon-san got someone else who was better suited to do my mission. I was annoyed at first, but hey! Now it means that I can head you're way now!" You'd think that it wasn't possible for Luffy's grin to get any bigger, but as Ace witnessed, it was indeed possible. It may have been fake but the smile soon grew to be more genuine as the voice continued,

"That's awesome! I can't wait for you to come! Remember that there's a surprise for you!" Comically, a question mark appeared above Ace's head, Who was this _'Dragon-san'_ and what was the surprise? Why was he left out of the loop? It felt like some sort of sick joke that Ace really didn't appreciate...

"Ok sounds good. I should get there sometime tomorrow. Catch ya later!" **[KACHA]** The moment the den den-mushi was hung up, Ace immediately had tons of questions, though he doubted that many of them would be answered. That didn't stop him from wanting to ask them though. His brother smiled then looked at the small boy, seeing a certain look on his face that already said he wanted answers. Luffy sweatdropped at his brother's glare, not excited to explain anything to him.

"So who was that?" Ace asked with a burning glare in his eye, just about ready to call out Luffy for all the secrets being kept from him. The older boy pulled a poker face, which for once was actually really good, and then shrugged saying,

"A friend. He works for my dad at The Revolution." Wow seriously? Luffy dad worked for The Revolutionaries? Although Ace couldn't say he was surprised by this new information. But was Luffy's father perhaps a top commander at the Revolution?

"Your dad?" Ace pressed, wanting as much information as he could get. He couldn't help but want to know more and more about this Dragon person. Knowing his horrible history with his own father, Ace couldn't help but be curious of Luffy's supposed father. Ace could only assume that this Dragon was Luffy's father, as he didn't actually know for sure. But a few assumptions never hurt anybody.

"Yea, Dragon. He's my dad. I've never met him but I spoke with him over the mushi once. Which was just now." Well, there's one question answered, but still, Ace wasn't buying the fact that the other man on the mushi was simply a _'friend'_ as Luffy seemed much closer to him than that. Although now that Luffy thought bout it, this Luffy was friends with so many people, and the word seemed to have different meaning to each person. Maybe that guy really was only a friend. Giving a sigh, Ace decided to let the subject go. He seemed to be doing that a whole lot lately. Luffy looked at his younger brother's scowl that rested on his face and immediately picked the boy up, planting a kiss on his forehead.

"THE HELL WAS THAT FOR!?" A now very red-faced freckled boy demanded, wiping his forehead where he had been kissed. He was still frustrated by his brother's affectionate behavior around him. He did it too often and to the extreme. A simply pat on the head would suffice, but Ace didn't enjoy being handled by his brother in such away. It was not something that had ever happened in his past timeline, and it was just too strange for Luffy to be so affectionate here...

"Because I wanted to." Was all Luffy said, as that was the only reason for doing it.

"W-Well stop!" Ace demanded, with still a flushed face. These past two days were just covered in this closeness with Luffy, Not that the freckled boy hated it, as he actually did enjoy being treated nicely with affection from his brother, but his pride simply prevailed time and time again. Ace couldn't show weaknesses. Although at that thought Ace mentally scolded himself. He was being so distant seemingly when Luffy would be nice to him. Always denying it or getting annoyed by it. Maybe those reactions were not the best ones... Luffy one the other hand simply smiled at his brother's annoyance and placed another kiss on his cheek, just for kicks.

"AHH! I SAID KNOCK IT OFF!" The boy started lashing out but was too small you reach his older brother's face. "ONII-SAN! When I get my hands on you you're gonna regret that!" Luffy laughed at his brother's antics. He was so adorable as a small kid. Although he did act a little different to what Luffy remembered from Dawn Island. Still, this small yet adorable child Ace reminded Luffy of the good old days at Dawn Island. When it was just him, Ace, and Sabo. How Luffy could wish he lived in that time again... Then he wouldn't have had made all these mistakes. Everything would have been better...

"You called me Oni-san again!" The older shouted with joy attempting to once again discard his cursed thoughts. Luffy continued to hold Ace close while giving him a tight hug, which the younger tried to deny several times, but alas it was useless. Ace was now doubtful about what he thought about enjoying this closeness with Luffy. He take it back! He didn't like this closeness! It was too overwhelming for the brunette.

"Let me go!" Ace commanded, yet his older brother refused to do so.

"No way! I'm never letting you go! I love ya too much!" Ace paused and stopped struggling at Luffy words. That was the second time he'd said that. Did he mean it? It seemed like he did, but... Ace didn't want to accept those words. Those words that he could never experience. Never... Luffy noticed that Ace grew quiet, then he grinned having an idea, and moved his hand to the small boy's sides. It hadn't been a moment longer before Luffy started to tickle the small boy. It was then that Ace was snapped out of his thoughts, being unable to stop himself from laughing. But through his laughs, he attempted to growl in annoyance at his brother's actions.

"Haha! H-Hey! S-Stop it Luffy! Hahaha!" Luffy grinned down at the boy, satisfied that he'd been able to see a large smile on the Ace's face. Although it was only due to him laughing, it still made Luffy happy to see it. Finally deciding to stop the tickle attack, Ace regained his composure and gave his brother a look that was covered with annoyance, but Luffy could also see a hint of pout his brother's face which made him chuckle.

"How's that eh? You know you liked it!" Luffy grinned as Ace looked away at Luffy's comment. The older could see that his smaller brother was trying to think of something to say, which to Luffy's humor he decided to push the joke a bit further. "Aw come one Ace. Don't be a _crybaby_." Luffy teased, gaining the attention of the freckled boy, who gave his brother a nasty look. Luffy could still see the faint red tint to Ace's cheek though, but before he could comment Ace decided that it was about that right time to kick the older in the shin.

"OWIE!" The older boy cried out. Not knowing why the younger had abused his leg. Although in all honestly the kick hadn't really hurt at all, but Luffy couldn't help but want to act like how he did as a child.

"Tch. Even though you're older than me. You're the real _crybaby._" Ace scoffed, making Luffy chuckled to himself. He really wasn't at all like how Ace described him, but he couldn't help but have the nostalgia hit him hard with those words. Luffy then put on a face of annoyance, although it was fake, he wanted Ace to see that he was still that same kid, despite how much he'd changed. Only a few minutes had gone past before Ace had run to who knows where, being chased by a grinning Luffy, who for the sake of being a kind older brother; pretended to not be able to keep up with Ace.

As the two played and made a ruckus on the ship, it was as if all of Ace's worries were gone. The secrets, the time-travel problem. The damned Pineapple and Luffy's constant affection. Everything that had bothered him that day seemingly disappeared. Maybe he didn't really care about everything that was being hidden from him. And maybe he wasn't worried about how to get home. Maybe he was starting to warm up to that blonde pineapple, and maybe he really did like the way Luffy treated him. Because maybe, just maybe, there was a slight chance, that the small freckled boy enjoyed this timeline... a whole lot more than his own.

**TBC.**

**[AUTORS NOTES]**

** Uhm, it's not what it looks like. I definitely didn't neglect my other story and update this one once again. _*Sighs*_**** Alright, Alright... You caught me. So there may be a slight chance that this is my new favorite story to write. I simply haven't been feeling the SabLu vibe rn and I don't want to write about it for the time being. I'm more liking this brother AceLu stuff. So I'll keep on going with this story updates, and maybe if the time comes that I really do want to write some Sablu I'll update my other story. But for now, I hope you all have enjoyed these updates. Because I sure am.**


	7. The Surgeon arrives, hidden pain

**Freckles that aren't where their supposed to be.**

CHAPTER 7: The Surgeon arrives, hidden pain

* * *

The moonlight danced on the ocean waves, which gently rocked the Thousand Sunny. It was a dark night and the Captain of the ship was having a little trouble sleeping. This wasn't anything new though, as Luffy almost never got any sleep these days. There were just so many things that were always haunting the older boy's mind. With a small sigh, Luffy looked down at his hands feeling a few tears run down his face, remembering how he had held Ace earlier that day. He was really growing attached to this kid. As much a Luffy wanted to be close to this Ace, never wanting to let him go, and forever wanting to hold him, he knew it would all be in vain, and that sooner or later he would have to let him go back to his timeline... But deep down, even if Luffy hated to admit it, he really didn't want Ace to leave. He loved being an older brother, and during their time playing almost all day, he couldn't help but finally feel complete. He'd felt so lost, so empty, and so... incomplete. But with Ace there, it was like everything was perfect, and that nothing could ruin it for him. Except for himself that is. The Pirate king clenched his fists dwelling back on _'that'_ day. The day that he would never forget, despite how much he tried.

"I really can't do anything by myself... Isn't that right, Ace." Luffy looked up at the sky, remembering his older brother who he wished so much to still be alive, He knew that this new Ace would never be the same as his older brother. Despite being the same person, it would never be the same... Luffy was only able to look up for a good few minutes before he heard a sound coming from the ocean. However, Luffy didn't budge at all, struggling to care about his surroundings with everything that was on his mind.

**[SPLASH]**

Something surfaced. Even though it was dark it was still fairly easy for Luffy to spot what would be known as The Heart Pirates submarine that was docking onto their ship. Suddenly Luffy was thrown out of his thoughts when he had saw the yellow submarine. This was great!

"It's Torao!" Luffy exclaimed, but tried to be quiet since everyone was asleep and waking them up just because Law had arrived would be the worst thing he could do. The surgeon had made his way onto the ship as if he owned it, not really caring if anyone was awake or not. "Hi, Torao!" Luffy whisper shouted, getting the older man's attention. He forcefully waved in return and Luffy made his way over to him quite happy to see him, while attempting to cover his previous thoughts.

"Good morning Luffy-ya." The doctor stated. Luffy greeted him with a long hug to the surgeon's annoyance.

"Why did you come so early? It's 2 am and no one's awake. How did you know I would be up?" The surgeon pried the younger boy off him. Although the task wasn't easy since Luffy for whatever reason had always felt the need to be close to Law, the surgeon was always capable of keeping Luffy's closeness away form him, most of the time...

"I know the sleep schedule of all my patients. You never got much sleep when I looked after you so I assumed it would be the same now. It seems I was correct." Luffy smiled softly at the surgeon who he was so fond. He didn't know why, but Law was someone he could share everything with. All his torments, pain and struggles; Law knew full well of. Luffy could never hide anything from the man, nor did he want to... As the younger brunette smiled at him, Law found himself looking at Luffy quite intently, something seemed off. It was then that Law noticed the tear stains on Luffy's cheek. "Luffy-ya..." Law started, moving a hand from his pocket out to the younger's cheek, touching the tears that lingered there. "You're still having nightmares."Luffy was a little shocked at the surgeon's concern, which he didn't show often. Luffy raised his own hand to wipe away the tears that were left, he seemed to struggle to make eye contact with Law.

"Y-Yeah.." Luffy managed, trying not to think of his most recent nightmare. It was too real, too scarring, and Luffy just couldn't bear it. He gave a long heavy sigh, feeling as though he should be over this fear by now, but no matter how he tried he couldn't shake it. It haunted him. It had done that for the past 3 years, and since then he'd only acquired more and more horrible memories, some recent and some not. But it didn't matter as they all caused Luffy to feel defeated and weak... Law watched the younger man, taking his hand away from Luffy's cheek and resting it in his pocket once more. Despite the fact that Law normally wore a blank expression, he couldn't help a small amount of concern show on his face.

"Luffy-ya... I understand what these nightmares do to you...but..." Law said quietly before pausing, as he also commonly experienced trauma from his childhood and Cora-san... Although this was no time for the surgeon to linger on his past. Luffy appeared to still be in a worse state than he was and is. Law couldn't understand why Luffy was so heavily impacted by these trials. They were horrible, he knew that. They were painfully disheartening, but if Law had learned anything from Luffy, it was that the younger brunette could overcome anything. Luffy was stubborn and steadfast. He never let anything bother him for long. But now that Law studied Luffy as he was now, he was starting to doubt that statement. "You need to find composure Luffy-ya... You can't keep being like this." Luffy was quiet at the man's statement. Law was right. Luffy couldn't keep being the way he was. He wanted to stop. He always wanted it to stop. His thoughts lingered on his nightmares for probably longer than they should have, and Luffy's throat went dry, responding in a voice that seemed to quiver slightly.

"I K-Know... But T-Torao... Every time. Whenever I S-Sleep... I'm there. I'm always there." Luffy looked up at the man, and Law could tell that the younger man was probably going to tear up if he continued. Law wanted to stop him, but he knew that this was something Luffy needed to get out of his system. "My hands..." Luffy continued, lifting his hands to look at them, his eyes staring at them deeply. "They're... Red. They're always red... It's dark. It's cold. I J-Just... Don't want to-" But Luffy wasn't able to finish. With tears now streaming down Luffy's face as they did before, Law had sighed under his breath before giving the younger brunette an embrace. Though it was small, it was enough to stop Luffy from crying. Law could feel most of Luffy's body shaking from the closeness, and it almost made Law feel sorry for the brunette. He seemed so tortured by these dreams. They affected him too much. It wasn't normal. This shouldn't happen, and yet, this boy showed to Law the unstable-ness of his mind. It was empty, it was hollow.

"It's alright Luffy-ya... Don't let it get to you. You need to be strong." Luffy hiccuped from is sobs, then Law quickly let go of him, not happy that he'd have to rely on physical contact, but it seemed to have worked as Luffy wiped away his tears, finding himself smiling softly up at Law.

"Thank you Torao." Luffy smiled through the tears he was still trying to get control of. Law shook his head and sighed at the younger's antics. Had he really come all this way just to make Luffy feel better? Actually, now that Law thought about it. He had indeed come for another reason. It wasn't as pressing but Law did want it clarified. Law waited for Luffy to finish cleaning himself up, as he'd become quite a mess in a short time. Luffy finally felt better and gave Law a more genuine smile, who decided it was about the right time to change the subject.

"Luffy-ya. I know that you've probably got some absurd story to tell me, but you have to explain that voice I heard on the den den-mushi yesterday." Silence followed. Luffy was never good at explaining things, and he didn't quite know how to tell Law what had happened. He usually told the brunette everything... But, he didn't know if he wanted to do that this time.

"I told you on the den den-mushi. We just found him." Luffy tried. Law didn't quite believe what Luffy was implying. He knew that the small brunette didn't keep things from him, although it did seem that Luffy had sugar-coated that answer.

"Who exactly?" Law questioned in a sarcastic tone. Already knowing the answer but need Luffy to say it himself.

"Ace of course." Law wasn't impressed with that answer despite knowing that Luffy would say that. The boy did say that his name was Ace but both the surgeon and Luffy knew very well that Portgas D Ace was very much dead. They were some of the few people to witness it first hand.

"Luffy-ya, you do know that Ace-ya is dead right?" Law hated himself for being so upfront with his friend, especially since Luffy had just had a very traumatic moment about that very thing. He didn't want Luffy to start thinking of his nightmares again, but there was no other way to say it.

"Yea... But..." Luffy started, not sure how to describe the situation. "It's not_ 'that'_ Ace. Torao, the Ace that's with us, he came from the past somehow. He's only 11 years old." Law was slightly shocked but didn't show any signs of it. What did he mean that Ace was a kid? There is only one Portgas D Ace. And really, time travel? That was an idea that was overused, and overrated... The whole idea just seems too stupid to believe. The man gave an annoyed sigh and looked at the younger who looked up at him with determined eyes. He was serious about this, wasn't he?

"Is there any proof that he **'is'** Portgas?" Law pressed, not satisfied with Luffy's response.

"Well, he does have all of his memories from when we were kids. And he knows who I am, but doesn't know anyone else he met when he was older. Um... He acts exactly like Ace and on top of that he looks identical to him." Well, those facts did seem to match up. They made sense but it just didn't seem like a plausible theory. Law didn't want to believe what Luffy was saying. Perhaps he was seeing hallucinations from his trauma...

"So, to sum it all up. You're telling me that you made me and my crew cross almost the entire new world, just because you happened upon you brother who traveled through time, and is now an 11-year-old with no memories of his adult life?" That had to be the most stupidest thing in the world. Where was the connection? Law didn't even like Ace-ya that much so why would Luffy ask him of all people to come see him? He should have asked Phoenix-ya or Top hat-ya... Why him? He simply had no connection to that freckled man, child or not. It was just like someone had written a crap story without even thinking about the storyline at all. Then editing it last minute so it makes sense. **Useless...**

"Yep!" The boy replied happily. His mind having forgotten his horrid thoughts for the time being which Law was thankful for at the very least. But Law still could understand how Luffy could come to a conclusion such as that. He was obviously oblivious to what he was implying. Another sigh was heard from the surgeon.

"You expect me to believe that?" Was all the surgeon replied with... Being quite silent afterward. However, Luffy still seemed unbothered by Law's disbelief, answering happily.

"Trust me Torao! Once you see him you'll know that it's him!" He made it sound like the surgeon had sat down and had a conversation with Ace-ya. Which never happened, he only went to go save Luffy from Marineford, and he was already dead by the time he'd gotten there. He can't even recall what sort of person Ace-ya was supposed to be. Law was now frustrated with the straw-hatted boy. Wait, straw hat? Now that Law thought about it, there was no straw hat to be found on Luffy's head. That was odd.

"Where is you're straw hat? Luffy-ya?" Law asked out of pure curiosity. It wasn't any of Law's business, but it was a little strange seeing Luffy without his hat.

"I gave it to Ace." Luffy deadpanned, not wanting to try and explain another thing.

"I see." Law understood, deciding not to linger on that topic for much longer.

"Anyway, I'm going to try and get a little sleep." Luffy started, although he sweat-dropped at the thought of having to sleep. "Sanji will be getting up in a few hours to make breakfast so I'll get up then. Or I'll already be awake. One or the other." Law simply nodded and decided it was about time he'd head back to the submarine, seeing as there was no other reason to stay aboard. Luffy gave the surgeon a hug before going to bed which was annoying but he didn't object, just grumbled to himself as he normally did. Luffy sure was a pain when he wanted to be... And yet Law could never stay frustrated at the brunette for long...

* * *

The sun made it's way into the men's quarters slowly, but surely. The freckled boy squinted his eyes at the light, it always seemed so bright in the morning. Turning over Ace noticed that he was alone in Luffy's bed, which was a little disappointing as he was used to having either Luffy or Sabo with him when he would wake up at Dawn Island, and part of him had hoped Luffy would be with him this morning because he had been there yesterday, so it was saddening when Luffy wasn't there. Ace slowly sat up, the winced a bit in pain. What on earth had hurt? Ace then realized that the pain was emitting from his elbow which was still bandaged. Curious as to why his elbow hurt, Ace slowly placed his hand on it, feeling the bandage which was soft and damp. He'd never gotten it wet, so what had happened? At the contact with his elbow, Ace winced again. It seemed that touching it would hurt a small amount...

"Why does it hurt? Wasn't it just a graze?" The freckled boy wondered, not understanding the reason for the graze to hurt even after these few days. Surely it would have healed by this point... Ace sighed, not wanting to dwell on the thought much longer. If he ignored it and left it alone it would get better. So Ace did just that. He ignored the pain his arm emitted as he stood up, shaking off the pain as he walked to the door. Ace picked up his pipe on the way out since you'd never know when someone could attack.

_"You're leaving already?"_

Ace stopped before he opened the door, slowly pressing his ear against it. From what he could hear it seemed that Luffy was speaking to someone; but who was it?

"Sorry Anchor. We've gotta get going. But it was awesome catching up with you." It sounded like Shanks? After thinking for a moment what to do, the young boy decided to open the door which revealed a bright sunny morning. It would have been around 8 am or maybe even 9 am for it to be this bright. Ace walked a few steps on the soft grass of the lower deck before someone all too familiar shouted his name.

"OI ACE! Come say bye to Shanks!" His older brother waved at him and Ace gave him a smile. Ace was more comfortable giving his smile to Luffy, but it was still very hard letting it show to others. Nevertheless Ace did as told, making sure his straw hat sat on his head properly when he reached Luffy and Shanks.

"Bye Shanks." The boy said with a faint smile. Not being too fond of the man for his antics but wanting to be polite since it was _'his'_ hat that Ace was wearing.

"See you Ace. Make sure you look after that hat. It was a gift after all." Ace gave a slightly confused look at that the red-haired man had meant by that, while Shanks simply laughed. He couldn't believe that Ace was actually wearing Roger's hat. He was sure that his Captain would be proud if he saw him now.

"I will!" the boy said a little too loud, dismissing his thoughts as they only seemed to bring him confusion. Luffy smiled and gave Shanks a hug before he left, leaving Luffy and Ace alone on the deck. Ace watched as Shank's ship disappeared out of view, and sighed in relief that one of his frustrations were finally gone...

"Where is everyone?" Ace asked as he turned to look at Luffy, wondering why no one else had given the red-haired man a farewell.

"Their inside, eating breakfast I suppose." Ace looked back out onto the docks which were now emptier with Shank's ship's absence, barely taking notice to the dark shade of a certain submarine that loomed just below the surface.

* * *

The two D brothers entered the kitchen as they normally did, taking a seat at the counter where Sanji had served them some pancakes! This was Ace's first time ever eating a pancake, and honestly, he didn't know what to expect, but the freckled boy soon took his first bite... and... It was like heaven. Ace bit into his first properly made pancake and savored the taste for once in his life, he barely took notice of the surgeon who sat, slightly shocked, while looking at the younger boy. Ace glanced at the surgeon for only a second, but he didn't have time to process that he was even a different person from usual and continued eating his pancake. Law, on the other hand, couldn't even believe what he was seeing. He'd seen pictures of Ace-ya, and this kid was the spitting image of him! How could Luffy's ridiculous theory have actually been correct!?

"It is Portgas... Damn that Luffy-ya, why are always his stupid theories correct and never my logical ones?" Law complained quietly to himself, his voice barely audible. He gave a huff and sat annoyed in the corner, barely noticed by those around him.

"YO ACE!" Ace then heard his name called out, and turn to see that stupid pineapple act slightly more friendly this morning. They did have a nice conversation the other day, but that didn't mean Ace was simply gonna warm up to him that quickly.

"Hey, Pineapple-Bastard." Ace deadpanned, earning Marco a tick mark. There was no way he would ever drop that nickname.

"What was that?" The scary blonde pressed, fed up with the boy's comments. He gave the boy a dare-ful glare, almost as if he'd like to see that brat try and call him that again.

"I said what the hell do you want!? PINEAPPLE-BASTARD!" The freckled boy sent the man a glare and received one from Marco in return. Luffy was oblivious to their argument, obviously eating far too much whilst being scolded by Sanji.

"Y'know, I've tried being nice but you're just a little brat!" Marco shouted. He'd tried to be nice to this kid but he was much more stubborn than what Marco remembered.

"I CAN SAY THE SAME HERE!" Ace growled, keeping his pipe close in case the damned Pineapple tried anything. Law watched from the distance as a full-grown man continued to argue with that of an eleven-year-old. It was simply one of the most pathetic things he'd ever seen. So in hopes of sparing himself, he decided to interrupt the two who seemed to know nothing else aside from arguing.

"Phoenix-ya, please be a little more mature... Last I checked you were not 5..." Law scoffed quietly, but loud enough for the frustrated blonde to hear. He never enjoyed the company of the blonde, he hated being around those with who wanted to prove themselves for no apparent reason. Most members of Luffy's crew being an exception. A steaming Marco then turned to the surgeon after hearing that comment against him; getting quite offended by it. Marco gave Law a glare then shouted probably much too loud for the scenario...

"Keep your goddamn nose out of other peoples problems! Surgeon!" Yep, that was it. That was the literal last straw. Law's eye twitched at Marco's outburst, resting his hand on Kikoku, feeling the sudden urge to chop the phoenix into lots of little pieces. This is why you don't screw around with people who can mess up someone's body.

"You, wanna repeat that?" Then there was a glare that could have probably come straight from your deepest nightmares. The receiver would end up going to hell for making such a face be directed at them._ [Poor Marco]_ Ace watched as the blonde man who was so cocky only seconds ago, seemed to sweatdrop at the other man's silent threaten. Wait... The other man?

"Wait a second." The freckled boy then looked at the surgeon, then at the pineapple, and then at Luffy. His vision switched between the three and it took a few minutes for him to notice something out of place. He suddenly pointed at Law whilst shouting,

"YOU! YOU WEREN'T HERE THE OTHER DAY! WHERE THE HELL DID YOU COME FROM!?" The boy got into a defensive stance, ignoring the sudden pain his arm brought when he moved it a bit to fast due to habit. Ace winced under his breath. It was clear to him he was injured to some degree, but he didn't want to bother anyone else, and he definitely had to take out this stranger. Luffy noticed Ace's sudden outburst and then noticed how his brother seemed quite wary of Law, who the Captain hadn't even realized was in the room. The surgeon gave a sigh, before giving Ace a look that didn't seem hostile, causing Ace to be confused. He'd seen this stranger come out of nowhere. Literally nowhere! However, he didn't seem to be an enemy... Just great. It simply seemed to be one thing after another... Ace was getting pretty sick of it... Would it ever end?

**TBC.**

**[AUTHORS NOTES] **

**Yep ok... I focused so much at the start of this chapter, then got halfway and was like "4000 words!? Screw it! I'll just finish this abruptly!" And that's exactly what I did. Rip Law, he doesn't think my time travel plot is any good. But I can't blame him since it is pretty bizarre. Once again I make Shanks's leave short, not wanting to drag it on for that long. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this update and I'll see you all later.**


	8. Waiting for another blonde, checkup

**Freckles that aren't where their supposed to be.**

CHAPTER 7: Waiting For another blonde, Checkup.

* * *

Breakfast did not go as planned. After Ace had finally realized Law was there, he continued to harass the surgeon. Law didn't appreciate the brat's actions at all and was tempted to cut Ace into as many pieces as possible... However, the surgeon restrained himself knowing that Luffy would be quite upset at him if he'd done that. Law decided to just ignore the smaller child and later had left annoyed, however, his submarine was still docked under the water near the Thousand Sunny, which meant he had some other weird reason for staying. Although the surgeon was no longer on the ship, that didn't make the freckled boy feel any safer. There is no way that _'Torao'_ or whatever was a safe person. He had just appeared out of nowhere! Aside from Ace being skeptical of the damn surgeon, the younger D noticed how Luffy seemed to be a little nervous this morning after breakfast. If you didn't know him then you would just think he was excited. But even Ace could tell that his _'older'_ brother Luffy, was far from that.

The Captain stared out into the distance with a grin on his face, which was only there to hide his fear of how Sabo might react to seeing Ace. Luffy noticed how the blonde seemed to act more like Ace as the days passed. He'd gained more of a fiery temper which seemed quite ironic to Luffy. Perhaps the heated attitude came along with the Mera Mera no mi abilities. The older brunette chuckled at that thought. Although Luffy knew that Sabo was only acting that way due to all his frustrations. From the stuff with Kuma, and just the fact that he did nothing to help save Ace at Marine-ford. Luffy gave a sigh, knowing that it had always bothered the blonde thinking what could have happened if he was there. But Luffy never blamed Sabo for anything that happened, He always blamed himself... Dismissing his thoughts Luffy looked up at the sky and noticed that it was around 11 am, but knowing Sabo, he probably wouldn't get there until late 5 pm. What a relief... As much as he wanted the blonde to come. The closer his arrival came, Luffy couldn't help but be nervous.

"Ne, Luffy." Turning his head, the Captain saw Ace walk up to him and sit down at his side. Luffy gave the boy a more genuine grin and patted his head which annoyed the younger. However, he had now gotten used to Luffy treating him like that so he didn't think much of it anymore and simply let his brother do as he pleased.

"Hi, Ace," Luffy replied Ace could still see that something had caused his older brother to worry... Although Ace didn't know what it was he felt like he should ask. Luffy probably wouldn't want him doing that but he simply couldn't stand being left in the dark for this long. He had a right to know things as well right? Ace simply couldn't see any point in hiding things from him. He thought for a time that maybe he didn't care, but after that surgeon got here he realized that yes he did want to know what was up. Luffy was his brother and he shouldn't hide things from him... Right? Ace seemed to be quite lost in thought, but it wasn't long before a shocking pain brought Ace out of his thoughts and caused him to raise his hand up to his head, he wasn't sure why but he felt a little dizzy... And he was hurting again. Why did this keep happening?

"Hm? Ace?" Luffy questioned, seeing the younger hold his head. What could have happened? Something simply didn't seem right... "Ne, Ace. Is something the matter?" Luffy questioned, unsure what to do. The younger looked at his brother and gave him a small smile, still being too stubborn to explain his problem. "I-I'm fine.." He insisted. Although Luffy found it difficult to believe what his brother was saying. He knew that Ace was quite prideful and that even if he was hurt he wouldn't say anything...

"Ace... Tell me if something's wrong." Luffy tried with a softer tone. The freckled boy looked up at the older brunette trying to decide if he should tell him or not. He didn't want to, but.. this was Luffy after all. Should he really keep this from him? Ace gave a sigh at his thoughts, knowing what the answer to his question was as much as he disliked the outcome.

"I.. was just..." He started, and Luffy listened to what the younger had to say. "I don't know what's happened, but my elbow keeps hurting more each day. It's giving me headaches and it hurts more than usual today..." Ace finished explaining. He was quite reluctant to tell Luffy any of that, but Luffy was quite thankful that he did. Although the older brunette was quite shocked when Ace had said that, his eyes immediately looking at the younger elbow he had bandaged a few days ago, grasping the boy's arm in his hand, causing Ace to wince a little.

"I-Is it really that bad?" Luffy questioned, doubting that Ace would be so affected by something so seemingly harmless. Luffy had seen the graze himself and it wasn't bad at all. It should have healed on its own. So why? Why had it not healed when it should have by now? Luffy pulled Ace closer to him a little forcefully, needing to look at the graze he remembered being so small. When Luffy felt the bandage he noted that it was wet... That wasn't a good sign. Quite worried for his brother's well-being Luffy looked at Ace quite concerned. "I don't want to take off the bandage... I need to take you to Chopper." He instructed the younger. Ace wasn't quite paying attention to Luffy at this point. Having his brother's hand grasp his arm put a lot more pressure than needed on his wound, and Ace could feel his graze sting when Luffy had pulled him closer. He shouldn't be manhandled like this. He was struggling to hide his pain as is...

"M-Mhm.." Ace nodded barely. He wasn't even sure what Luffy had said. All the pressure in his arm was getting to his head. It ached and hurt, and Ace didn't want it to hurt... But it did, and he felt light, it didn't quite feel real. He shook his head, thinking it would snap him out of his daze, but it didn't work. Ace's ears rang, and all sound had blurred around him. Luffy was saying something to him but he couldn't make out the words, they were all fuzzy and they blurred together. Ace looked over at his arm that Luffy clung so tightly to, and had attempted to get his brother to let go, but it was all in vain as Luff's grip held tight, and he had picked up Ace and was running towards the infirmary. Ace didn't like how fast the world was moving as his brother ran. It hurt his head more just looking and he closed his eyes hoping to ease his pain a little. He couldn't understand how it had gotten so bad since this morning.

"Chopper!" Luffy shouted, and this time Ace could hear the shout. His ears stopped ringing and the noise around him returned. But it was loud, too loud. He became quite aware of what was around him and he was soon placed on something soft which Ace then knew to be a bed. The sound of everything around him continued to hurt his head more, and he held his hand against it to try and stop the pain but was unsuccessful. He heard Luffy ask if he was ok, and he jerked his head towards his brother, now quite unsure of what was happening around him. His vision blurred which the freckled boy definitely knew wasn't normal. And Luffy soon became a mixed blur of colors in front of him. Ace reached a hand out to find Luffy and the older immediately took hold of his hand now very concerned.

"Ace! Are you ok!? Chopper! He's acting different!" Luffy called out to the doctor who was in the room, and was getting something ready for Ace. The freckled boy soon saw a lighter blue blur enter his vision, he assumed it was Chopper, but it didn't stop him from being scared from what was happening. His vision was messed up, everything was loud, he was starting to shake. What was happening!? It was like he didn't have any control over his body's actions! "Ace!" Luffy shouted again, not knowing what was wrong with him. The boys face was actually a lot redder than he had realized. It was hard to tell since Ace was fairly tanned but still. Chopper quickly took the bandages off the boys arm. Luffy had told Chopper they were why Ace was hurting, but he didn't know why they caused that. However both Chopper and Luffy were utterly shocked when the bandages revealed what seemed to be a very red, and very infected wound.

"AH! That can't be good at all!" The deer screeched. Luffy stared at his younger brother; his expression a little blank. Trying to process what was happening. Ace winced when the bandages were removed, however, he didn't seem to want to look at the wound on his elbow. Instead, his hand squeezed Luffy's hand as it was being held. Trying to tell his brother he was not ok. But Luffy already knew that. He knew. **Ace was not ok**.

"O-Onii-san." Chopper quickly rushed to his desk, pulling out a disinfectant and rushing to a bed where he instructed Luffy to place the boy. The captain did as told without question and was very quiet while doing so. Luffy simply couldn't bear to see Ace damaged like this. Nothing was right about this. Nothing was right... Once Chopper had sprayed the disinfectant Ace let out a loud hiss. The wound stung horribly and Ace didn't like the way it felt at all. His vision still blurred, he had almost never felt so overwhelmed before. "Onii-san.." He called out quieter, expecting Luffy's grip to tighten, but it was then that Ace noted the stronger, firmer grip was no longer keeping hold of his hand. Luffy had stood up, and backed away from the boy.

"I'm sorry Ace... B-But I just can't." He muttered, barely audible to the freckled boy who panicked at Luffy's absence. Turning his head to try and find him, feeling around as his vision tried so desperately to return. Ace needed Luffy. He needed his brother. He didn't want to face this alone... But it was too late. Luffy had left. And Ace sudden;y felt a sharp pain in his arm, and his vision skimmed past what appeared to be a needle being injected into him. Ace heard the reindeer sigh, probably at having to use a drug. The freckled boy hissed when the needled was removed, but it wasn't long before he had given in to the overwhelming drug, and before he lost consciousness, all he could manage was a low, quiet,

**"Luffy.."**

* * *

It wasn't looking good. Chopper ended up having to get Law in to help with Ace's wound, which turned out to be lucky that Law had decided to stay around. How the boy had not noticed something so serious was beyond Law, especially since he apparently had it for so long. They do say that some people don't recognize pain until they see it... So maybe that was the case. Perhaps Ace hadn't realized he was so injured until having to focus his attention on the wound itself. If that was the case then the boy had one hell of a will to ignore the pain for so long. If only Chopper had known that the boy was deliberately ignoring the pain... If he'd swallowed his pride and told him sooner this could have been avoided.

"Chopper-ya, he needs antibiotics." The surgeon instructed, having much more experience in the field. Law wasn't trying to imply that Chopper was a bad doctor because he was far from that. He's was just making the statement that he knows more than him since he had studied medicine for such a long time compared to the reindeer. Which is definitely true.

"Right!" The reindeer noted, looking through the cupboards for some. Ace continued breathing heavily where he lay. Even though he was unconscious that hadn't stopped him from making sounds of distress. The boy kept groaning in pain. Law could tell simply by looking at the wound that it was not a normal one. He had noted the hint of purple hue it had to it. The muscles of a human is more of a pinkish color, so this purple coloring was not normal at all. It could have been a bruise, but Law doubted that.

"Where on earth did he get it from?" The surgeon asked himself, it wasn't normal at all. The bleeding should have stopped a while ago after they disinfected it but it was still fresh and raw. Not good at all. Law simply didn't know what could have caused it to get this infected. If Ace had the wound covered almost all this time then it didn't get exposed to any bacteria at least, but that didn't leave out the possibility that it was exposed before he was bandaged it. Law had asked Chopper where they had found Ace, and Chopper explained that Robin had found him on the Island they had recently passed by on to raid a Marine base. Law could only wonder how long Ace had been there, and whether or not that was when his graze had gotten infected.

"I found it!" The smaller doctor shouted out. Chopper ran to Law and Ace, handing the antibiotics to Law, who knew that the boy needed to wake up to take it. If he ate anything while unconscious he may choke and the surgeon really didn't want to deal with that at this moment. Instead, he turned to Chopper with a serious look on his face.

"He isn't doing well at all... Chopper-ya!" The reindeer immediately turned to Law quite frightened by the man's dark voice.

"Yes!?"

"Do a diagnosis on the bacteria that spread through the wound! We need to know what exactly is causing such a horrible reaction to his skin." Chopper did as told and got a sample that they had put aside. Law briefly checked the clock, it was 3 pm. What the hell? Had they really been treating Ace for 4 hours? Surely the boy would have stabilized by now, or at the very least he should have woken up. That made Law worry.

"CHOPPER-YA!" Law demanded, needing the results immediately. He may not have cared too much about Ace, but right he was now his patient, and Law made sure his patients came first. He didn't want to see Luffy in any more grief than he normally was in. If Ace didn't make it then Law didn't even want to know how mentally broken Luffy would become. He already had dealt with Ace dying once, and he definitely wouldn't be able to handle that same trauma again.

"It's processing! Give it a second!" The deer shouted back, not liking the tension in the room as it was sometimes too overwhelming for the reindeer. Such is the life of a doctor. As Law stared worryingly at the freckled boy, he noticed that Ace's breathing calmed, his body relaxed slightly, as it had been so stiff the past few hours. Ace groaned more consciously as his eyes flicked open as if someone had turned on a light switch. What the hell had happened?

"L-Luffy?" Was all the boy could utter. Law sighed inwardly in relief. Thank goodness the boy was conscious. Now they could actually make some progress with his condition.

"Luffy-ya isn't here," Law noted flatly. Ace's eyes lowered in dismal. Why wasn't Luffy there? Surely his now older brother cared about him enough to be by his side.. so why? Why had he left him... all alone... Ace attempted to shake away those unwanted thoughts and looked up at Law. A somewhat bitter expression on his face at the fact that he was having to be treated by this troublesome man. Could he even trust him?

"W-What happened-" Was what Ace was about to ask before his eyes drifted to the wound that was currently under operation. "W-WHAT IS!" Law quickly covered the boy's mouth. He sure did like to be noisy. Law could sense Luffy's presence only on the other side of the wall Ace's bed was resting against. It was obvious that the older brother didn't want to be away from Ace. Law was sure that Luffy could hear everything they were saying. Luffy did after all have such amazing Observation Haki. He definitely had to be careful what he said to Ace.

"Don't talk, you'll upset Luffy-ya even more." The surgeon muttered, looking at the wall slightly as he said that, he knew that Luffy was listening to them, but after he had said that, he felt Luffy's presence drift away. Law couldn't tell if Luffy was walked away, or if he had attempted to hide his presence. If Law really wanted to he could have done a quick scan to see if Luffy was still there, but he didn't really care enough to do that. What we would tell Ace was the truth and there was no point in hiding it from Luffy, even if it would hurt him to have to hear it.

"W-Why doesn't it hurt?" Ace asked, not noticing that Law had been staring at the wall.

"It's a very powerful drug. Once it wears off this is gonna hurt like hell." Law didn't look away from the wall as he spoke, knowing that Luffy was listening. The small freckled boy gulped at the sentence, He really wasn't wanting that drug to wear off anytime soon... Turning his head away from the surgeon he also stared at the white wall, the men's room was on the other side of it. Ace didn't know why Law was watching it so intently, but he could tell that this man did things only if he had a reason to do them.

"Uh... Why are you looking at the wall?" Ace questioned looking back at Law, who simply sighed and shook his head. He felt Luffy's presence then leave completely. He must have realized that Law had known he was there. The surgeon looked at Ace for a moment, feeling somewhat sorry for the boy, before returning to Chopper's side to check the diagnosis progression.

"Hmm.. only 38% Completed? Damn... We don't have time to wait for this..." Chopper seemed to lower his ears, feeling like he wasn't able to help to his fullest. The reindeer went over to the desk nearby and cleaned up around it since there was quite a lot of equipment that had been left around during all the tension in the room. Usopp had come in several times to offer help but Law usually denied him, and Sanji had came in twice to offer them beverages while they worked. It was just plain water but Chopper was still grateful Sanji even attempted to give them anything since the blonde would usually only serve Nami and Robin willingly. Ace watched Law as he stared at the diagnosis machine frustratedly, worried about why the surgeon was in a foul mood suddenly.

"Am I.. Gonna die?" He questioned, rather worried for his own well being now. But who could blame the kid? Law gave a hefty sigh and looked up at the freckled boy. His features seemed so much wearier than they did this morning, his skin color had paled while his hands seemed to be shaking a little. Law couldn't lie to the kid... He didn't know if he would survive...

"Hopefully not." Was Law's only reply. Although that response made Ace sweatdrop. Wait, did he not even know if he could save him?

"You don't know!?" The kid started to freak out, Ace had promised Luffy he wouldn't die, this was not how he would go out!

"I didn't say that. It depends on if you want to overcome this. Your pure will could be enough to stop it but you need to get rest and stay calm. Especially when the drug runs out, that will be your time to prove if you can last." Ace became quiet at the man's words. He was nervous, and this was not ok. He could die, what had even happened? He remembered feeling the cut shortly after Robin took him to the Sunny, so could he have gotten it before that? Perhaps when he was on the beach? It all didn't make sense... Ace could die from this, and his life was in the hands of a surgeon-bastard and a reindeer... He didn't feel secure or safe in this situation at all... He wanted Luffy. Why wasn't he there? He wanted his brother... Ace sighed quietly to himself.. it seemed like this would be something he would have to face on his own...

**TBC. **

**[AUTHORS NOTES] Well, it's been a month or so since I updated this, and I really needed to get this updated so I can then start writing the new chapters. Just 3 more chapters to do then we can finally get some new content for this story. So close ^^ Although I'm also thinking of editing "The blue gentlemen, the straw hat" I know that I shouldn't do that until I've gotten this story all updated. And yet here I am wanting to write a FF9 fanfic. Geez I just want to make myself extremely busy it seems ^^: Oh well. See you all next time, whenever that may be. Probably in a month *shrugs***


	9. ASL reunited, Two older brothers

**Freckles that aren't where their supposed to be.**

CHAPTER 9: ASL Reunited, Two older brothers.

* * *

The ocean breeze was soft, barely pushing the sails of the revolutionaries ship. The chief of staff was getting rather annoyed since it meant that they would take longer to get to the Thousand Sunny. It was 4:30 pm. Perhaps they would get there a little earlier than normal? It didn't take long before Sabo's mind drifted to think about what bizarre could be the reason for his little brother wanting to see him. He seemed more childish than usual which was rather odd. The tone in his voice showed that he was excited about something. But there was one thing the blonde couldn't get off his mind. Just why was it that when he called Luffy the other day, he answered,_ 'Hey There~!'_ Luffy almost always calls Sabo by his name whenever he sees him or gives him a call. That could only mean that Luffy wasn't wanting someone on board to know he was talking to him. Why would he do that? Was it seriously that important? Just who was with Luffy? It all seemed suspicious to the older man, but he ignored the thought and placed it in his _'Luffy's Antics'_ folder of his mind. Exactly where it belonged.

"Oi, Sabo." The blonde turned to see Koala. She was a good friend of his who often joined him on his missions, and she had been so nice to company him on this journey. Their ship was rather small as to not create any attention, although Sabo couldn't say he enjoyed the very cramped space he felt he had on this ship. He liked the more open and larger ships. He only wished he could be on a Navy ship because of their massive area. Although the thought was not one that would come true since Sabo would not join the Navy nor would he be captured anytime soon. Shrugging the pointless wish aside the blonde glanced around the boat and he noted that it sounded as if it would have been a similar size to the Going Merry, which was apparently the straw hat's old boat. Suddenly Sabo realized that Koala was giving him a bitter look. It seemed that he had been daydreaming just a bit too long, so he directed his attention towards her.

"Yeah?" He questioned warily, not liking a sour expression she held on her face. Oh god, what did he do wrong this time? Aside from ignoring her for like a whole 2 minutes.

"Why are you keeping a lookout on the back of the ship? You idiot!" There was a moment of silence. Sabo looked around to familiarise himself with his surroundings, then sighed to himself. Yep. He was definitely standing at the rear end of the ship. He chuckled nervously as the woman eyed him down. If stares could kill Sabo would have been a dead man.

_'Yep, that's how you make a fool out of yourself. Good job Sabo...'_ The chief thought. Koala fumed and simply scolded him for being so dumbfounded. She smacked his head leaving a comical bump before she dragged him to the front of the ship. Where the Thousand Sunny was now in view. Sabo, who was groaning because of the newly found bump, immediately forgot all signs of pain when he saw the sunny. He beamed at it however Koala only hit him again making him remember his pain.

"SEE! LOOK WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU DO DUMB THINGS!" The women barked, not happy with the blonde's antics. Sabo winced at how mean the woman would be to him. She even would use haki just to make sure her fist wouldn't phase through his fire. Sabo now suddenly wished that he had come alone. But either way, he was happy to see the ship in view. The only question Sabo had now was, Why were the heart pirates ship there? And why were the whitebeard pirates there also? Why the hell did Luffy have so many visitors!? What the hell could have happened that made Luffy invite so many people? Sabo glared at the visitor's boats and gave a sigh. Just great... The blonde was hoping he could have some peace and quiet with his brother but that didn't seem like it was possible. One other thing was also off. There were so many people docked onto the Sunny, and yet it was so quiet? Something was wrong. Sabo would find out what it was causing the silence.

* * *

Marco was not having a good day... He had a crap sleep last night, which sucked. Then he woke up and argued with Ace, which had brought back good memories and nostalgia but was still annoying. Honestly, that kid was more trouble than he was worth... Then to make Marco's day even worse, he'd gotten threatened by that damn surgeon, so thank god he was still in one piece **_'literally'_.** The blonde Phoenix really didn't think anything could have made his day worse, but he was wrong when he'd found out from Usopp that Ace was seriously wounded. What the hell had caused that to happen!? And why did no one notice!? It Couldn't get any worse. Today was the absolute pit of nothing bad frustrations and annoyances, and even worries. Nothing at all could make this day any worse... right?

"Everything has been so frustrating today..." Maroco verbally noted. He had been staring off the side of the Thousand Sunny, trying to get everything that had happened around his head. Ace not being dead, well he was dead but this kid was also apparently Ace. Not to mention he acted exactly like AIt honestly scared the rest of the crew... No one wanted to come to see Ace, not even Izou. They all kept to themselves on the Moby Dick simply waiting for when Marco would finally let them leave. Although the blonde had no intention of doing that quite yet. He still had to get Ace to somewhat like him, or at least not hate him. But it was while the phoenix was deep in his thoughts, that his eyes wandered across the ocean, and right to what he could plainly see to a small boat. It didn't look all that special, just a plain old boat. Marco shrugged at first, not thinking it was anything important, but then he felt the presence of that blonde firey tempered brother.

"Well, Shit..." Was all Marco managed to say when he'd realized the boat belonged to the revolutionaries. His comment caused others on board to overhear him, although many assumed that it was a normal _'Marco Moment'_ because apparently those are a thing now... However, his comment had drawn the attention of a certain long-nosed fellow.

"What's up Marco?" Usopp called out. He had been attempting to help Chopper and Law but the tension was a little much for him so he left soon after. It's not like he was wanted anyways. Usopp could tell he was only getting in the way so that also the main reason he had left. The pineapple glanced over at the sniper before pointing at the small ship.

"That is the problem." The blonde stated flatly. Usopp followed where he pointed and spotted the small ship, although he didn't quite get what Marco meant. However, Usopp, being one of the better crew members when it came to observation Haki, felt a shiver go down his spine when he felt the presence of Sabo, who was clearly present on the boat.

"Oh, crap..." Was what the sniper replied. Last time Sabo was on board the Thousand Sunny he nearly burnt the ship to a crisp because Luffy wouldn't stop messing with his hair. The blonde honestly cared a bit too much for his hair.. honestly Franky had been repairing the ship for a few days after that... Sure the Sunny was made out of Adam Wood, which is a near-indestructible wood, but the mast and rope and etc definitely were not made of wood. Their own mast had practically disintegrated when Sbo got a hold of it. Usopp gulped at the thought of having to repair Sunny yet again if Sabo got mad or annoyed ta someone. It's weird because most people, when looking at Sabo would think he was a gentlemen, and according to Usopp he **'was' **one. But not now. The longer Usopp had known Sabo for, the more he noticed that the blonde was hot-tempered and easily annoyed.

"Exactly," Marco replied, knocking Usopp out of his thoughts. Only a few brief moments had passed before the pretender left to alert Luffy. He had been in the men's room ever since Ace had been being treated. Usopp could only assume Luffy had needed some space. Sabo coming here really was the last thing he needed, but it was too late to do something about it now, so as Usopp went to tell Luffy of his brother's appearance, Marco simply continued watching the sea during the sniper's absence, watching as the ship got closer. "This isn't going to go well at all." He breathed to himself in frustration. This was the last thing Luffy needed? yeah right... This was the last thing **Marco** needed...

* * *

"We're here!' Sabo shouted as he and Koala boarded the Thousand Sunny, expected to be greeted with a hug from Luffy, but was disappointed when he was instead met with the Phoenix.

"Greetings, Chief of staff," Marco stated, making his way over to him. Sabo's expression faded from excited to bitter as he glared at the other blonde. Not ever really like the phoenix, but had always felt as if he was obligated to since he was Ace's crewmate. Sabo gave a sigh, looking around to try and find Luffy, but was unable to locate him. Sabo could feel his brothers presence, which was a lot smaller than usual? That couldn't have been good. Sabo now had a bad feeling that something had happened after Luffy had called him...

"Where's Lu?" He questioned, but received no answer.

"Y'know, you came at literally the worst possible time." Marco just about cracked a smile at his remark. Because of how accurate it was. Sabo didn't find his remark all that amusing though. He wanted to know what was up and he wanted to know now! If something was wrong with Luffy he wanted to go and find him right away!

"I asked where Luffy is!" He demanded sternly, not affecting the Pineapples attitude. Marco simply sighed and looked towards the door to the men's room Usopp had walked through only a few minutes prior. Surely Luffy would have been coming out about now? It seemed not. So Marco pointed towards the door and answered the annoyed fire-user.

"He should-" But was cut off by a new voice, it was familiar, but didn't hold it's usually happy-go aura.

"S-Sabo?" The two blondes turned to see that Luffy had somehow made it out of the men's bedroom. Usopp walking not far behind him. Luffy's eyes seemed to droop, and his expression was so blank and expressionless. Luffy was normally so excited to see Sabo when he visited, and according to Sabo, Luffy sure did sound excited about his visit when he'd called him on the den den-mushi. So why was he now so upset and miserable? What on earth could have happened!?

"Luffy?" The brother smiled warily, unsure why his younger brother didn't seem like himself. The blonde walked up to Luffy and pulled him into an embrace. It was only when Luffy didn't hug Sabo back that he knew something was seriously wrong. Looking down at his brother he noticed the dry tear stains that decorated his face. The boy seemed to be avoiding eye contact which was something Luffy never did. Sabo couldn't help but worry for his brother, and he wanted to know what was wrong, but he knew he had to be gentle at a time like this. Marco, on the other hand, gave a sigh and decided that now was a good time to leave. He patted Sabo's shoulder before leaving to go to the Library, dragging Usopp along with him. Sabo was now alone with his brother on the grass of the Sunny's lawn. The older was still very confused and worried... Luffy was so happy only yesterday! What had happened to make him so upset?

"Luffy, What's wrong? You've been crying?" The younger stayed quiet, Sabo sighed inwardly, then sat on the grass and pushed Luffy down to sit next to him. "Please tell me what's up." Luffy sniffled before wiping his eyes and looking up at his older brother. Sabo saw the colorless look in his brother's eyes yet again, it was nowhere near inviting. The younger brother then decided to speak up.

"Sabo, I-I'm such a horrible b-brother." The brunette was practically at tears. What on earth had happened? Sabo knew for a fact that Luffy was definitely a very good brother to him. He was everything he could have wanted. So why would Luffy think he was such a horrible brother?

"What do you mean?" The older questioned, confused by what Luffy was getting at. The brunette paused before answering.

"I was really excited for you to come... W-we had all found Ace... He's back." Then there was silence. Did Sabo hear his brother correctly? Did Luffy really just say that?

"W-What are you talking about?" Sabo questioned a little more concerned. Ace was back? What did that mean? Ace was dead... Why was Luffy talking about all this now of all times? But Luffy ignored Sabo's question and continued.

"B-But then he got hurt because of me. A-And now he's really sick... Chopper was t-treating him and now, it's just, I just don't know what to do!" Luffy hugged his older brother, who was very much confused at Luffy's words. While the younger buried his face in Sabo's shirt. Sabo simply couldn't comprehend what Luffy was saying. What did he mean? He was still talking about Ace... But that doesn't make any sense?

"Luffy, you're not making any sense." Sabo gave a confused smile. He tried to be comforting as he watched Luffy calm down. He knew that his brother said some pretty crazy things at times but this was on a whole new level.

"In the infirmary..." Sabo looked at the door that lead to the infirmary. What was Luffy even saying? Was Ace there? That made no sense at all. But what if he was telling the truth? It's pretty uncommon if not impossible for Luffy to lie, even if he was trying to lie. So did that mean he was right?

"Can we go?" Sabo questioned with a soft smile while pulling his brother up as he stood. Luffy gave a slow nod, and Sabo truly could see that his younger brother wasn't acting at all like he normally did. It was seriously worrying Sabo, but he had no choice but to face whatever it was that was causing his brother to feel so upset. Whatever it was...

* * *

The two walked into the infirmary, where Sabo opened the door to reveal both Chopper and Law talking about some sort of medical term. The two doctors saw Luffy and Sabo enter, and Chopper was utterly speechless as he looked at who had come into the room. Law sighed mentally but stayed quiet, knowing that it wouldn't end well. Sabo glared at the surgeon who he had never liked to begin with, with it being a similar situation as Marco, Sabo only put up with Law because Luffy considered him to be such a close friend, but Sabo never stated an opinion on the matter. The revolutionary's gaze drifted to Chopper who wore a worried expression and then to the bed where a young boy was awake and glaring right back at him. Their eyes met and Sabo knew immediately who he was looking at. Only, it physically wasn't possible. But his vision said differently because right in front of the blond, was Portgas D Ace. His brother. His very much dead brother, was right in front of him and was a child. Exactly how he remembered him to be. What. The. Actual. Hell? Sabo was about to shout or react in some way, but Luffy had beat him to it.

"ACE!" Luffy cried, detaching himself from Sabo and rushing to the boy's bed. Ace looked at Luffy briefly but his gaze then returned to Sabo soon after, giving him a confused look. "ACE! I'M SO S-SORRY! ARE YOU OK!?" The freckled boy's eyes soon returned to Luffy, who looked like a mess. Ace could only sigh at his older brother's antics. Even though Luffy was so much older than him he still was such a crybaby... The thought made the freckled boy smirk.

"Oi, oi... I'm fine." There was a pause. "AND STOP CRYING! YOU'RE STILL SUCH A CRYBABY!" Luffy was taken aback by what Ace had shouted at him, but those words only caused the older brunette to smile, all signs of sadness gone in an instant. Sabo, on the other hand, flinched at the boy's remark. **It was 100% Ace.** The blonde stood in utter silence, trying to comprehend what he was seeing. Ace was giving him looks every so often, he could see that the kid was trying to work out who he was and probably why Luffy was with him. Sabo could sense the protective look the freckled boy would shoot at him. But it didn't seem as if Ace actually know who he was? Obviously he didn't recognize him... Luffy hadn't either when Sabo had seen him at Dress Rosa. However Ace was normally better at matching people's names with faces, so Sabo was quite shocked the kid couldn't work out who he was. But still, Sabo had gone insane was and seeing what was clearly the ghost of his dead brother, so he had definitely lost his mind at this point.

"Ace! I'm such a bad brother! Forgive me!" Luffy shouted although he wasn't crying anymore which was surprising to Sabo. Ace grew annoyed at his brother's antics which earned Luffy a punch on the head. Ace continued scolding the older for being so sensitive. He continued until Sabo finally managed to voice the word he had been so reluctant to say.

"A-Ace?" The said boy look up and the blonde in front of him, utterly confused who he was talking to. Just great, more random strangers that apparently knew him... However, this time Ace could help but think he'd known the stranger too. His blonde hair, and that Top hat. It was so familiar, but Ace knew deep down it wasn't possible. Luffy noticed Sabo and realized he hadn't explained the situation. Since the captain now knew that Ace was ok and feel well, he was suddenly very happy. He turned to Sabo then gestured at Ace with his hand.

"Ah, I forgot. Sorry, Sabo, I forgot to tell you that we found Ace. Oh well, I did. But you probably didn't understand me." The brunette laughed at his own antics, and Sabo's mouth gaped, did his brother really just drop that!? How can he just casually say this kid was Ace? Not that Sabo hadn't already realized but still! However, this time it was Ace's turn to be shocked. He looked at Luffy who was still laughing, then back at the stranger who was gaping at him, obviously also quite shocked at Luffy's words. Ace then put the pieces together, utter shock now on his face.

"WAH!" He shouted, pointing at the blonde. "SABO!?" The blonde was just as shocked, pointing back at Ace and shouting,

"ACE!?" Luffy continued laughing, this time at his two brother's antics. Wiping away whatever tears were left on his face. He gave his signature grin before reaching out to both of them and giving them a hug. Sabo was in tears and now even Ace was. They all embraced for a good minute. Law had simply watched them and his eye twitched a little, what a frustrating bunch of brothers...

"L-Luffy! How is this possible!?" Sabo finally shouted, hitting Luffy on the head. "And why didn't you tell me sooner!?" Rubbing his head Luffy pouted, not happy that he had been hit.

"Ace traveled through time," Luffy stated flatly as if the sentence was normal and was something that happened every day. Sabo's eyes widened while Ace smiled sheepishly. Then suddenly the freckled boy realized that he was looking at Sabo, the Sabo who had died back on Dawn Island. Wait what!?

"SABO! HOW ARE YOU ALIVE!?" Ace suddenly shouted, pointing at Sabo again whilst gaping. The blonde blinked at the remark, thinking for a moment as if he'd forgotten.

"Hmm... I kind of had amnesia, but honestly, I could say the s-" However he was cut off by a certain surgeon before he was able to finish, which annoyed the blonde slightly.

"Well, if you're all done crying or whatever, I actually have important data to share with you about Ace-ya's health." Luffy froze and immediately spun to face Law, remembering that Ace was actually really sick. Sabo gave Law a confused look. Was Ace sick? But he seemed perfectly healthy... Ace, however, pouted at not being able to listen to Sabo finish.

"Is something wrong with Ace?" Sabo questioned, still very unsure of the situation. Law eyed Sabo in an annoyed manner, which caused Sabo to look over at Ace, only now realizing that the kid had Luffy's straw hat strung around his neck. Now that was odd, Luffy's hat was very precious to him, even after he had fulfilled his promise with Shanks. Why did Ace have it? He'd have to ask Luffy later about that.

"Let me begin." Law started and redirected Sbao's attention back towards him. "Chopper-ya and I analyzed the sample of the infection on Ace's arm. It appears to be filled with a foreign essence neither Chopper-ya or I have ever discovered." Sabo listened to what the surgeon was saying, glancing at Ace's arm, which he now noticed was very infected and red. Luffy's expression dropped, knowing he was the cause of Ace's arm getting worse. Ace stayed quiet as he listened.

"It's not anything I've ever seen before. Law and I did manage to find one core essential link between the cut and Ace though." Chopper continued, gaining the attention of the three brothers.

"What is it?" The revolutionary questioned, now curious about the discovery they had made.

"The cut is infected with a bacteria that Chopper-ya and I named _'PZ.1'_. It means _'Paradox Zone 1'_. Law added. "It seems that upon being flung into our timeline, Ace received a major injury that festered into his blood. It's really dangerous and could kill him if we don't remove it." Luffy looked beyond worried, not wanting new Ace to die at all. He'd just gotten his brother back and he didn't want to lose him ever again! Sabo was just as shocked as Luffy while Ace himself was seriously worried about his own health. "However, Because the bacteria has remnants of paradox essence in it, if it's extracted, someone could possibly create something that could send Ace-ya back to where he came from." Ace suddenly froze, taking in what had been said. His eyes glanced at Sabo, but then moved to Luffy and rested on his newly found older brother. He would be able to leave? But... Did he really want to leave? Ace looked down at his hand, while Sabo had noticed that Luffy had an expression that wasn't readable in the slightest. He sighed. Sabo really wouldn't have guessed that this is what Luffy had wanted him to come over for.

"Either way," Chopper started. "Ace needs to stay in bed for the next 3 days. He is currently on a drug to reduce the pain. When it wears off he will go through a whole lot of pain. It's the infection reacting with his blood. When that happens we will give him another dose and begin extracting the paradox." The reindeer finished. Sabo nodded and Luffy did too, although the brunette nod was slower, he wasn't quite paying attention to what was being said anymore. Ace once again kept quiet and it wasn't long before Sabo grabbed Luffy by the shoulder and dragged him out of the room, thanking Law and Chopper for their services before the exited the room. Ace hadn't noticed that Sabo had left with Luffy, his mind was thinking of other things.

"Luffy." Sabo started, closing the door behind them as they exited the room.

"Yes..?" Luffy asked still not quite sure how to react to the new information, his mind seemed to be somewhere else which Sabo could understand. He smiled.

"If that really is Ace, and I believe it is, then you and I both know that something like this won't kill him. I mean, the man's already died once, there's no way he would a second time." Sabo tried to cheer up his brother, although the dazed expression still lingered on his brother's face.

"He doesn't know," Luffy stated, Sabo gave him a confused look, not sure he meant by that. "Ace doesn't know that he's dead." Luffy finished. Sabo sighed, knowing that was probably the case. He didn't expect Luffy to simply tell the kid he was dead. Ace would never forgive himself, even if he technically hadn't died, the older version of himself had. He would take it upon himself, and Sabo knew that Luffy hadn't wanted that. Sabo still smiled though.

"Hey Lu, how about we tell Ace after he's had that operation?" Luffy looked up at the blonde, he seemed to be debating his offer, then simply nodded, giving Sabo another hug. The two shared the embrace for a short time before Sabo noted,

"Seriously Lu. You should have told me that Ace was here. I would have left right away." He chuckled and Luffy hummed in response. The blonde gave a sigh of relief, after everything that had happened, only one thing could process through his mind. "Y'know, It's nice being all together again. You, Me, and Ace." Luffy nodded once more and buried his face deeper in Sabo's shirt. Sabo smiled down at his younger brother. When Ace gets better, they would explain everything to him.

**TBC.**

**[AUTHOTRS NOTES] Oh wow, this is probably one of the longer chapters I've edited. I honestly love this chapter so much more now ^^ I think that I focused on Sabo more, which was an aspect I enjoyed. Other than that I'm almost done editing this story, and soon will be getting onto new chapters ^^ Sorry this has taken so long, but its something I simply had to do. Cya all in the next chapter edit!**


	10. Understanding, a surgeons perspective

**Freckles that aren't where their supposed to be.**

CHAPTER 10: Understanding, operation time

* * *

The sun shone down on the Thousand Sunny, resting upon the shoulders of a certain Blonde who's top hat shielded his eyes from the heated rays of the sun. It had only been a few hours since Sabo had first found out that Ace was alive, sickly hurt, and on the Thousand Sunny. Honestly, he didn't know what to think of it. How was this even possible? Well, at least it explains what the stupid phoenix was doing there. But still, it wasn't to be expected at all. After the blonde had talked with Luffy a while longer about this child-like Ace, Sabo immediately told Koala to go return to headquarters, as he wouldn't be leaving the Sunny anytime soon. But that aside, the older blonde still couldn't understand or want to accept what was happening. It had been 3 years since Ace had been killed, and the blonde had moved on. He wasn't particularly sad about the incident anymore, all Sabo could ever feel when thinking about MarineFord was anger and frustration. He refused to think of what had happened back then... However, with what he just experienced, Sabo simply couldn't help himself when the remorse and regret that he had buried deep inside of himself had began to reemerge. Giving a sigh to clear his mind of his thoughts, the revolutionary leaned against the railing of the Sunny. As he scanned the area around him as he usually did when he was upset, he spotted his little brother make his way over to him.

"Hey, Luffy." The blonde started, watching his younger brother walk over to him, and lean against the railing beside him.

"Hi, Sabo." The brunette replied half-heartedly. Ever since learning about Ace, Sabo had noticed that Luffy didn't quite act the same. He seemed to be a little more down than up, which wasn't like the new Pirate king at all. Sabo watched as his brother stared out at the waters that lay around the docks. His mind seemed to be somewhere else from what the blonde could see, and he could only wonder why.

"Luffy, You seem to have something on your mind." The younger nodded while still longer out at sea, not knowing how to explain his problem to his older brother.

"It's a few things... But, most of all, it's about Ace." Sabo smiled softly and nodded in understanding, it appeared that even Luffy was having trouble with the current situation.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Sabo tried, not wanting to pressure his little brother to tell him what was wrong even if he did really want to know. It was wrong to probe after all. Luffy turned his head towards his brother, his expression not being one Sabo was capable of reading. It was weird, almost natural to see Luffy pull such an expression, as the boy normally could be read like an open book. Luffy normally wore his emotions on his sleeves, but Sabo had the faintest feeling that Luffy was not letting on all that he had said. Sabo watched as Luffy shook his head with a small grunt. It didn't seem that he wanted to talk to Sabo about this at all. The blonde man sighed softly and rested his chin in the palm of his hand as he rested on the railing, a somewhat playful look on his face.

"That's fine Lu~ But just remember that you can't keep secrets from me. I'll find out somehow." A small smile drifted onto Luffy's face while he looked at the blonde. It seemed that Sabo always had a way to make him smile if only a little. There was a pause that lasted a minute or so, both not knowing how to continue, but finally, Luffy stated,

"I just, feel a little torn." Sabo gave his younger brother a confused look, usually, Luffy was rather accepting of things, or rather he wasn't a worrier. He simply dove into everything without looking back. For him to be torn was odd to see. This was definitely the first time Sabo had seen his brother act this way. It really was strange to see.

"How so?" The older pressed, now curious as to why Luffy had decided to share this apparent new feeling. However, Luffy on the other hand, knew that this feeling was not a new one. It was constant. It always had been. He simply wished it would go away, but he didn't know how to make such things possible. This torn, demented feeling would stick with him... It wouldn't leave him. People on the outside never had never seen it, but it was always there.

"I just, Everytime I look at Ace, I just... Don't want to lose him again." Sabo gave his brother a comforting smile while he looked across at him, however, his smile faded a little as Luffy's words sunk into his head. He didn't want to lose Ace? Sabo mentally sighed, he truly couldn't quite relate to Luffy's feelings at all. He had lost his memories for so long, and when Ace had died, and when his memories returned, the last things Sabo could ever remember about his hot-headed brother were really vague... Plus, the last time Sabo had ever seen Ace in person was before the fire on dawn island... That seemed to be so long ago, heck, it was so long ago. It happened13 years ago or so... To Sabo, Ace was just a memory he could hardly remember... His connection with him wasn't as strong as he let on... However, Luffy grew up with Ace even after the blonde had supposedly died. Luffy had spent 8 years alongside Ace and was able to bond with the freckled man so much more, in a way Sabo could have never been able to experience... And yet despite that connection, Luffy had held Ace's dying body in his arms... Luffy must be grieving the most on the inside. Although Sabo didn't want to believe that statement, as he knew that his smaller brother was a loving a caring person, who looked ahead without regrets and continued pressing forwards. He was strong.

"I know how you feel Luffy, But, Ace doesn't belong in this timeline." Sabo tried to comfort his brother, smiling softly while he tried to get him to see reason, however, his smile faded when the small brunette turned away, muttering something the blonde couldn't here. But he saw his brother's lips move, and he saw the bitter way they spoke. He didn't want to believe that he truly was having a conversation with Luffy. Because the Luffy he knew didn't act like this at all. Something was the matter, but the blonde was too afraid to ask what was wrong.

"Yeah..." Luffy then turned back to Sabo and replied coldly, making the older brother look at him with concern, but the stern look that Sabo received from Luffy told him that his brother wouldn't explain to him what the problem was anytime soon if ever. It kind of made the blonde feel upset. He thought that he was the one Luffy could tell anything to. He was his brother, wasn't he the one who was supposed to be close to Luffy in a way that was different from everyone else? If that was the case, then why did he feel so indifferent as his younger brother's stare penetrated whatever hopes Sabo had of being a loved older brother.

Uhm... Lu?" Sabo smiled nervously at Luffy, wondering why his brother was acting like a completely different person. Luffy's eyes widened a bit as he realized what he was doing, and looked away for a moment. Sabo peeked over to look at his brother's face since it was hidden from him, and the small brunette looked back at him with a bright signature smile on his face. However, Sabo couldn't help but feel that something was off about the smile he had grown used to see on Luffy's face. Why did it sit there as if it didn't belong? Luffy continued smiling, before finally voicing,

"Sabo! I just remembered! Guess what Ace does!?" Sabo was now quite confused by his brother's behavior. It wasn't at all normal to be filled with such resentment, and then suddenly act as if nothing had happened. It was like Luffy had flicked a switch in his mind to make him smile. However, none of this sat right with Sabo. He did truly want to question Luffy but found himself at a loss of words, so he sighed to himself, thought for a moment, before deciding to play along.

"What?"

"Ace calls me Onii-san!" The smile on Luffy's face seemed to be more genuine now, which left Sabo to wonder what on earth the fake smile was about before, but he then realized what Luffy had said and the shock on his face was unbelievably amazing.

"Wah!?" The blonde shouted, honestly very confused and in shock. Ace said that to Luffy!? Was he serious!?

"YEP! Now you and I are the older siblings! **Ace is the littlest!**" Luffy laughed happily, all signs of resentment gone, and Sabo couldn't help but sigh in relief. Luffy began running around the ship, shouting how he was excited for Ace to get better while Sabo smiled at his brother antics. He didn't know what that moment Luffy had before was, but he couldn't seem to care, because the smile that was worn by the brunette, but genuine, confident smile, was one worth remembering. Sabo loved it when his brother smiled, it truly made him feel so much happier and content. The blonde couldn't wait for Ace to be better, he had a whole lot of explaining to do.

* * *

To say that Law liked Luffy was an overstatement. He was fond of him since he had done so much for him. With Doflamingo and Kaido and everything. But he only shared a mutual alliance with him and he refused for it to be anything more, although it seemed that lately, it was hard to keep his feelings for the brunette as nothing more than an alliance... Law couldn't help but start to care about Luffy. Maybe he was just more concerned about him? After what had happened when he'd arrived it was hard to talk sadistic or frustrated to Luffy. Law almost felt sorry for him. Luffy insisted that they were friends, so Law sort of just rolled with it. He now started to want to return that friendship that Luffy had offered him for so long but felt himself unable to do so, after all... He didn't think that a friendship would lead to him doing extensive surgery on an 11-year-old boy. He is a surgeon but still, why was he the one that always had to clean up Luffy's messes? It was getting ridiculous. but he didn't complain since part of him really enjoyed helping out Luffy. Was it pity? Maybe. Was it friendship? Hopefully not. So to avoid all signs of giving his weakness, he simply had a crap attitude about everything he did.

"Law, the extraction is nearly complete." Chopper noted. It was currently 1 am in the morning, Ace had a panic attack at 12:08 am when the drugs had worn off and practically cussed the whole ship apart. Seriously when that kid was angry, like seriously pissed, he had quite a harsh tongue. Law found it rather comical since the crew who had met Ace, like Chopper and Nami _ect_, had said that he was one of the most polite people they had ever met.

When the drugs wore off, Sabo, Marco, and Luffy had immediately tried to get into the infirmary, Luffy so then he could comfort Ace but Sabo and Marco so then they could scold him for his language. Law denied them entry, obviously. Who wants two annoying adult men scolding a child for feeling pain? Seriously what jerks. Law was close to wanting to let Luffy stay, but they had to operate immediately and did not want any distractions, besides the three, were rather dirty. Contamination was not something the surgeon wanted to deal with right now.

"Good, how's his blood pressure?" Law asked it was the most important thing to worry about at the moment. They had to get as much of the essence out as they could but didn't want to cause Ace to lose a significant amount of blood.

"It's fine, stable. 90% of the essence has been extracted." Law sighed mentally in relief. In all honesty, he was quite impressed, it hadn't even been an hour and they were nearly done. After the extraction they simply needed to disinfect the wound and then bandage it. With the PZ.1 gone, the wound could heal on its own which was exactly what Ace's immunity system needed to be able to function again properly.

"That's good, is Luffy-ya, Top hat-ya and Phoenix-ya still at the door?" Chopper went to the door and looked outside, Luffy was asleep, leaning against the wall with Sabo nearby, also asleep. However, Marco was nowhere to be seen.

"Marco's gone, but both Luffy and Sabo are asleep outside." Law chuckled mentally. Luffy simply couldn't help but want to be as close to Ace as possible. Although as clingy as it may sound, Law couldn't help but worry about Luffy's mental condition. It was clear to the surgeon that Luffy was using this smaller child of Ace to help cope with his nightmares, but the surgeon could only wonder for how long that would last for? If this Ace was from another timeline as everyone claims, then eventually he would go back to his timeline and leave. Could Luffy really be in a mental condition to be able to deal with that? Law only hoped Luffy wasn't relying on Ace too much, otherwise, the brunette might break when Ace leaves, and Law really can barely stand seeing Luffy cry. He'll even resort to physical contact to get him to stop. He doesn't want to be there to see how broken Luffy would be when Ace leaves. He sighed mentally pushing aside the thought for now, and finished whatever procedures were left. In about half an hour, Law had successfully covered the wound and extracted all the PZ.1 from it, with the help of Chopper of course.

"Nice work Chopper-ya, I think we've done a good job." The reindeer smiled at the remark. Law always enjoyed the moments of victory when he had completed a surgery. They gave him a sense of purpose and accomplishment. If only Cora-san could see him now...

"Ne, Law. What are we gonna do with the essence?" Chopper questioned, pouring the purple liquid they had extracted into a jar and close the lid tight. Law walked over to the smaller doctor and noted,

"Not sure. I don't specialize with that sort of stuff, you should probably find someone with more experience." Chopper nodded slowly, quite unsure where they would find someone with such knowledge. He paced over to the other side of the room and stored the liquid away somewhere safe. God knows what would happen if Luffy got ahold of it...

* * *

Ace was asleep in the bed, the kid would have been exhausted after everything that had happened... Even after Law had given him the drug it had taken some time for it to take effect, so for a good 10 minutes, Ace had to deal with such a horrible pain, and Law couldn't help but feel sorry for the kid. No one should have to go through something like that at such a young age. With a sigh, Law left the infirmary. He honestly had meant to leave yesterday but something told him that he should stay. Looking back on the feeling he had, it almost seemed like he knew something like this would happen, or that he knew that he would be needed. Perhaps it was just his doctor senses. The surgeon made his way across the ship, needing some fresh air after the stressful surgery. He knew that he should probably leave but knew that staying another day wouldn't hurt. Just in case Ace had a reaction. But heck, why was Law even concerned? He almost never willingly did anything for Luffy unless he was in debt. Some would say that he still was in debt to the brunette, but Law knew that Luffy didn't care for things like that so the surgeon never attempted to repay him. Maybe part of him felt like he needed to repay the younger who he was fond of. Although he would never say that out loud.

"Oi." A voice called. It was dark, very dark. Law turned to see Marco walk to him, his blue phoenix flames rested on his shoulders to make him seen in the darkness that surrounded the two. It was just past 2 am now and the sun wouldn't come up for a while. Law had assumed that Marco had gone to bed when Chopper said he wasn't by the door any longer. He hadn't thought that Marco would still be roaming the ship at this hour. That was usually something Luffy did who, was surprisingly absent tonight.

"Greetings Phoenix-ya," Law noted. He tended to play with people he talked to, never giving them a straight answer unless it was medical related. On the other hand, Marco had a scowl on his face, not liking how casual the surgeon was being at a time like this.

"Cut it out would'ya... yoi." The blonde growled. Law found his behavior laughable, he must have been rather concerned for Ace if he was getting this upset over simple formalities. "How's Ace? yoi," The man questioned. It seemed as though Law's guesses were correct.

"He's fine, stable. Did Top hat-ya and Luffy-ya explain the situation to you?" Marco nodded, Sabo had briefly gone over it with him. He really hoped that Ace would recover from this... He still wanted to be able to befriend the kid but he couldn't do that if he was dead, again... There were a few minutes of a comfortable silence. Law was enjoying the quiet but Marco decided to interrupt the peace by inquiring,

"Do you really think you can send him back? yoi," Law sighed heavily, so many questions he didn't care to answer. The day had already been tough enough, why didn't he just leave when he had the chance? Now he was having to be the messenger bird for everyone... And for the two people, he hated the most... Top hat-ya, and Phoenix-ya... They were by far the worst in Law's book, and he was sure they felt the same about him. Not that he could care, he didn't need people to like him. He didn't need anyone...

"Like I would know. I've never studied the impossible. I have no clue who would even have any experience doing such a thing." His statement was valid and somewhat sadistic as usual. He didn't know what to do, heck even if he did know what to do, he wouldn't want to. Everyone simply expected too much of him. The phoenix chuckled at his statement, understanding the fellow Yonko's troubles.

"You seem quite tired. Why don't you just leave, yoi?" Law sighed again, he really did want to disappear but simply couldn't leave his patient. Marco already assumed that Law would think that way. He was dedicated to his work after all. It's not that Marco WANTED Law to leave, despite how much he disliked the surgeon, but he knew that after the conversation he had heard earlier today, he knew that both he and Law should probably leave **ASAP.**

"So, you know that Luffy invited all the Yonko right?" Law laughed at the statement. This morning there were 3 Yonko plus the Pirate king all in the same room, they were lucky that Shanks had decided to leave today because 3 already was far too much... No jokes he invited them all.

"That's obvious." Law deadpanned.

"Then you must realize that we are one Yonko short, yoi." The surgeon paused at the Phoenix's words. Oh shit... **'Her'**.

"Oh for crying out loud.." The surgeon uttered with another sigh. He hated that goddamn woman. He was **NOT** staying around for her to get over here on her high horse. He knew that the moment she'd get here, she would be ordering everyone around, acting as if she was better than everyone, and Law simply couldn't stand it... He almost envied Luffy for being the only one who didn't receive her wrath... Ever since he had met her all those years ago, Law had known that he wouldn't like her at all. He had honestly been avoiding the stupid women ever since. This was just ridiculous...

"Exactly. Now I don't know about you, but I've been thinking about leaving in a couple of days... I've been here long enough and the rest of the crew are getting bored. I saw Ace and I'm ready to get going...yoi." Although there was a small lie embedded in that sentence. Yes, Marco had seen Ace, but he did still want to befriend him... Perhaps he would be capable of doing so if he gave himself a few more days... He hoped that would be enough time otherwise his crew would leave without him and he'd be stuck here on the New Worlds loudest ship. Just the thought of that scared the blonde. Law, however, emitted an aura of pure envy for the Pineapple. He didn't have any responsibilities whatsoever. He could go and do whatever the hell he wanted and get away with it because he was a Yonko. Technically Law could do that too, but not in this situation...

"How lucky for you." Trafalgar scoffed, frustrated that he blonde was able to leave.

"Why don't you just get Chopper to check up on Ace. It's not like you're the only Doctor onboard and that little deer does have amazing skills from what I've seen, yoi." The younger man wanted to agree with Marco's theory. Chopper-ya was indeed qualified to look after Ace. So perhaps leaving before **'she'** got there was possible. Law gave the faintest of smiles, even the small ones were rarely seen on his face. Marco left the man to his thoughts and decided to get some sleep; leaving Law alone outside. He was excited to be gone from this god forsaking place. Especially with their newest visitor out of many who would be getting there any day now.

Law abandoned the railing and roomed into the submarine. He would have to alert everyone of the coming dangers. Hopefully, she wouldn't get there tomorrow, Law did deep down want to stay a little longer. If only to see if Ace recovers or not. Then maybe his debt to Luffy would be paid, then he wouldn't have to come around so often. Then maybe he could finally get some peace and quiet.** At long last.**

**TBC.**

**[AUTHORS NOTES] Heh, I liked this chapter edit. I made Luffy and Sabo's conversation much more accurate. Luffy originally burst out and showed at Sabo his thoughts, but I like him being more reserved and less willing to tell others his feelings. Either way, I hope you all liked this chapter edit and I now only have two more to do! Yayyy So closer then new chapters can come out!**


	11. Recovery, brotherly bonds

**Freckles that aren't where their supposed to be.**

CHAPTER 11: Recovery, Brotherly bonds

* * *

It was a very sunny morning, which appeared to have been quite a common thing on the Thousand Sunny. Sabo could tell the moment he had woken up. The sunlight blinded his weary eyes, and he wondered how the weather above Luffy's ship was always so nice. He figured that Nami was most likely the one behind it. She could predict a storm before any signs of one had even shown. She really was such an amazing navigator... Luffy was lucky to have someone who could navigate with such ease. As Sabo sat up from what very much felt like wooden planks. Turning, he realized that he indeed had been sleeping on said planks. The blonde rubbed the back of his neck, obviously, that wasn't the most ideal place to sleep, but after Ace's shrieks last night, how could he not wait outside? And it's not like he had been alone. Luffy had been sleeping right next to him as they had awaited Ace's surgery to be finished. That ended well didn't it... Sabo stood up and left Luffy asleep on the deck while he decided to find that annoying surgeon; he needed to know about Ace's condition immediately.

As the revolutionary wandered around the Sunny, it hadn't taken him long to spot the surgeon. That was probably because of his well-known signature hat that was decorated in black spots. Sabo sighed at the thought of willingly having to converse with the surgeon, however, if he was doing it for Ace, or even Luffy, then he supposed it would be worth the risk. As the blonde walked over to Law, who was currently sitting in the seating area around the Sunny's mast. The surgeon's expression wasn't very welcoming when Sabo had made it into his vision, as he knew exactly what it was Sabo would be wanting to ask him. So with a hefty sigh, he answered the blonde's silent question.

"If you're here to ask about Ace-ya, then he's fine." Sabo sighed in relief. He didn't even have to ask anything and his worries had disappeared. He almost wanted to walk away then and there, having found out what he wanted to know, and honestly, Law would have been quite satisfied is the blonde had decided to do that as it would have made his life a lot easier. However, it was not to be. Sabo stayed where he was, and moved a little closer to the surgeon which bothered him, there must have been one other thing that was on the blonde's mind.

"Ah, I see. That's good to hear. But, I wanted to ask something else." Law sighed mentally at Sabo's words. First Marco and now Sabo. Why couldn't these blonde men just leave him alone for once? Because it was getting annoying, as there were only the two most annoying people he could think of, Sanji was high on that list as well. Actually now that Law thought about it, the men he seemed to dislike were on blonde? Wtf?

"And that is?" Law questioned, dismissing his thoughts that only brought him more frustration. Sabo became quiet for a moment. Law could see that the blonde was contemplating how to ask his question. Law nearly wanted to room himself away but decided to give the blonde a chance.

"If you don't mind me asking, but is it normal to be attached to something? or someone?" Law sighed under his breath, as he could plainly see the blonde was hinting about being concerned for Luffy. Why didn't he just ask him straight up? Now the conversation is going to last longer than it needs to... After sighing at his thoughts, Law turned to Sabo, giving him a look that said _'I really don't care'_ but answered him anyway.

"First of all, yes I do mind you asking because it's annoying. Second, being attached to something can give the brain secureness and stability. It's quite common for people to have something, or as you said, **someone**, to be attached to. An example could be Luffy-ya's crew and Luffy-ya. They are all attached to him, and if he wasn't there I honestly don't know how they would continue." Law then gave Sabo a look that said _'I answered your question now go away'_ But the surgeon could see the look of determination, and perhaps even concern on the blonde's face. He sighed again, for what felt to be the hundredth time today, before questioning, "Is this about Luffy-ya?"

"Yes, it is..." Sabo mumbled, finding himself annoyed at Law's first statement, but shrugged it aside as he really was worried about his brother. After the cold expression Luffy had given him yesterday, the blonde really wanted to know if something was the matter with him. Law was a doctor, and as much as Sabo didn't want to ask him for help, he couldn't help but know that professionally Law knew what he was doing. "He's rather attached to this Ace..." Sabo added quietly which made the surgeon chuckle. He really had no idea.

"Can you blame him?" Law asked plainly. Luffy had been through so much... How could be not want to cling onto the closest thing the would bring him security? And it's not like doing that is anything new for Luffy. He would always have to be close to others in order to deal with his problems. Law being the person Luffy would g to in search of comfort, he knows quite well, if not perfectly what that young man has to bear on his shoulders, and it was not nice.

"Well, no. I understand completely why he's so attached to him. But..." The revolutionary paused, deciding how to word his statement. Law could only scoff under his breath at the statement Sbao had made. He understands completely Luffy''s attachment to Ace? If that really was the case then he wouldn't be having this stupid conversation with the blonde, would he? It was quite clear to Law that Sabo had no clue about Luffy's problems. Which Law can understand, since Luffy probably wouldn't want to worry his brother, but this goddamn blonde had to be put in his place.

"Yes?" Law questioned slowly, trying to hold back his dangerous growl. He couldn't stand the way Sabo acted as if he knew his brother like the back of his hand, because to Sabo, Luffy was like a clean sheet of paper, nothing was wrong and everything was fine. But the way Law saw it, that clean sheet of paper was actually torn, ripped, shredded, and was covered in bloodstains. This so-called paper that was so pure, was not at all what it seemed, and Law couldn't stand seeing Sabo think that this precious angel of a brother he had actually existed. Luffy was no angel, the brunette was a broken piece of glass. Law growled to himself at his frustrations while Sabo stayed silent a while longer before finishing,

"...Is it really healthy for him to be like this?" Law's eye twitched at Sabo's stupidity, or perhaps it was simply his unawareness... Either way, Law was just about ready to set the blonde straight, but he withheld himself from doing so. Honestly... No one would mentally be stable if their dead brother had been killed right in front of them. And then to see that same brother again as a young child. It must be very painful for Luffy, more than Law cared to realize. The surgeon sighed, not wanting to co-operate with Sabo anymore, and finally letting out that bitter voice he'd been holding back.

"What the hell!? Is it healthy for him!? Are you seriously going to be such a dumbass and ask me that!? No! Luffy-ya should not be capable of functioning at all after the things he's experienced! How the hell did you not know that!?" Law hissed in frustration, and Sabo was definitely shocked at how hostile the surgeon was snow acting towards him. All he did is ask if it was healthy? Why the hell was he having such an attitude!? Sabo was about to say something to counter Law, but the surgeon didn't give him any time to and continued his rant, this time finding himself able to calm down, but his voice, even if it was no longer loud, still held the same, if not more resentment in it. "Top hat-ya, You're honestly such a dumbass... You should know your brother a lot more than I do. Why the hell am I the one sitting here having to explain to you you're brothers problems? You're supposed to know him right? Like hell you do. You don't know anything about Luffy-ya." The surgeons bitter, harsh, yet truthful words, made a firelight on Sabo's shoulders. That wasn't at all what the blonde had wanted to hear.

"What the hell does that mean!? **I know my brother perfectly well!**" Law could only laugh at Sabo's claims. He knows his brother perfectly? Whatever! Law could see that the blonde himself didn't even know if those words were true, and Law was about to let him have it. He knew deep down that Luffy wouldn't appreciate Sabo knowing this information, but Law had definitely had enough. He was sick of this fire-user acting like he knew Luffy when he clearly didn't.

"Do you really? Then tell me. Did you know that Luffy-ya will rarely ever get more than 2 hours of sleep each night? Did you know that he suffers from mental depression? Did you know that he dissimulates his every emotion!? Never has he once been happy these past few months! You think you know your brother? You think he's this perfect little angel, don't you? He's not, and anyone who actually knew him would know that he's not. Clearly, you don't know your brother Top hat-ya." Sabo's eyes widened. How the hell did this damn surgeon know all that about Luffy!? If that was even all true. He could just be making up all that crap, and Sabo didn't want to believe a single word of it.

"How do you even know that?! If it's even true!? You're probably making up all that crap!" Shaking his head in frustration, Law countered Sabo's explanation.

"I'm his surgeon. I was the one who saved his life from nearly dying at MarineFord. What did you do? **Nothing.** As his doctor, I of all people would know the problems my patient is facing. However, despite being his doctor, Luffy-ya only tells stuff like that to me, **not you.**" Sabo's expression was furious! He couldn't believe what he was hearing! How dare this damn surgeon claim such things! But... What if he was right? Could it be possible that Luffy really wasn't in a stable condition? He really didn't want to believe him but there was that slight chance he was being honest, it wasn't often that Law actually lied after all.

"Are you sure?" Sabo looked serious, trying to hold back his anger. Law gave the blonde a look that said _'I'm never wrong.'_ before making a room and teleporting to the heart pirates submarine at long last. He'd had enough of that revolutionaries crap, and he couldn't deal with it any longer. Sabo grunted in frustration and kicked the grass on the ship. He could believe everything he had just heard. Luffy barely sleeps!? He's facing depression!? And what was that crap about him being dissimulating? He hasn't been happy for the past few months!? But Luffy is happy every time he calls him on the mushi! What Law was claiming was simply unbelievable and Sabo wouldn't stand for it. There was no way that could be true. Luffy wasn't like that at all. He'd prove it.

* * *

The now very frustrated blonde walked around the ship after realizing that Law wouldn't return anytime soon. That surgeon really was like a thorn in his side. Now finding himself barely noticing the sun that shone on the Sunny as he normally did, Sabo realized that he simply had too much on his mind, but he didn't at all want to think about any of it. He knew that dwelling on such things wouldn't be good for him, so the blonde put his thoughts aside for once, and found himself walking towards where Luffy had been sleeping.

"Luffy," Sabo whispered to his younger brother. He seemed to be fast asleep. The blonde checked the time and it seemed to be 10 am. That was a little odd. Luffy normally didn't sleep in this late. If anything he was one of the first crew members awake. Even when Sabo would come and visit for a few days he'd noticed that Luffy would be awake before him most mornings. Did that mean that Law was right? Was he seriously not getting enough sleep? Sabo shrugged at the thought, as it must not be true. Luffy is just an early bird. Surely he sleeps through the whole night. He was too buoyant and active to not be getting enough sleep. Law was crazy... "Luffy," Sabo said a little louder, shaking his smaller brother awake.

"S-Sabo?" The younger slurred, his eyes flickering open slowly. "H-How's Ace?" Luffy continued half asleep. Sabo couldn't help but laugh slightly at his brother's consideration. He really was concerned about Ace, wasn't he? Although he couldn't help but worry that Luffy was being a little too concerned...

"Trafalgar said that he's stable. The surgery was a success." Luffy smiled at Sabo's comment and slowly stood up. Sabo eyed his brother curiously. It had been a few months since he last came over to visit, which was a little after Luffy became the Pirate King, but he hadn't noticed but his younger brother was actually starting to catch up to him in height.

"Let's go see him!" Luffy then swiftly opened the door and rushed inside, followed by a very worried Sabo who realized that Luffy may disturb Ace while he recovered. Honestly, Luffy could be so straight forward when he wanted to be. Sabo's thoughts of Luffy hiding something slowly drifted away from his mind. They couldn't be true. Luffy rushed into the infirmary to find his younger brother awake and sitting up in his bed. Ace waved at the older two.

"Morning." He stated. Luffy got teary at the sight of Ace feeling better while Sabo smiled at the freckled boy. Thank goodness he was ok.

"ACE! YOU'RE OK!" Luffy hugged the younger boy and stretched Sabo into the group hug with his arm. Sabo wasn't happy about it at first but smiled nonetheless. It was Ace after all, plus it reminded him of the good old days, so he would let this one pass, even if it did mess up his hair while doing so. It seemed that Luffy was also reminded of the days at Dawn Island by his next statement. "I'm happy we're finally all together again!" Sabo stopped, eyes widened at Luffy a little. Did he really just say that!? Had Luffy even realized what that implied? Ace paused and couldn't help but find his gaze watch his older brother. Luffy realized what he'd just said and regretted his words. He had just screwed up.

"What do you mean?" Ace questioned. Now curious as to why now they would be finally together again? How long had they been apart for? And Why?

"Uhh, I mean..." Luffy tried. He quickly looked over at Sabo for reassurance but was met with stern eyes. He wanted Luffy to tell the truth. But he couldn't. Not after what he did. He couldn't help but feel a rush of guilt overwhelm his body. Ace... He didn't deserve it. The brunette had been so selfish... he couldn't live with himself. It's better if Ace didn't know. But before Luffy could find his words Ace continued.

"Do I not visit you guy's often?. I must be a pretty horrible brother if I don't even come say hi." Luffy sighed in relief while Sabo's looked continued to watch Luffy. The blonde wasn't happy that Luffy was keeping things from Ace. Was he keeping things from him as well? Was Law right? Dammit, the blonde didn't want to think about that again... Although he had to admit that there just seems to be something about Luffy that seems so off. His brother was always so terrible at lying but if he was, why and when did he get so good at it?

"Yeah... You're such a meanie you know that." Luffy faked while sticking out his tongue. Ace then bonked his older brother on the head and Sabo once again dismissed the thoughts that seemed to only bring him confusion and frustration, to point something out.

"Ne, Ace. I just realized that you're not the oldest brother anymore. It's me!" Sabo grinned and earned a hit from the younger child. Ace was furious. How was he even able to move so much after that ridiculous surgery? Much be genetic...

"SABO! You're not older! I may be smaller than both of you, but technically I'm still older!" The freckled boy gained a tick mark, annoyed that he wasn't being considered the oldest suddenly, since he had always been the oldest, until a few days ago that is.

"Yeah but Ace. You called me Onii-san! So that just means you admit you're younger!" Luffy interrupted. His timing couldn't be more perfect. Ace now found himself conflicted. Yes, he considered Luffy to be his older brother but Sabo could screw it!

"I did hear about that." Sabo started, a smirk resting on his face. Ace's face grew red from embarrassment. It could have been from anger though, Sabo honestly wasn't sure.

"Whatever Sabo! You're not my Onii-san! **I'M. OLDER. THAN. YOU!**" Sabo's grin grew bigger, wanting to continue teasing the child because it was just so funny to see. It brought back memories that the blonde adored so much. Luffy could barely hold in a laugh.

"I see. So, you're Lu's little baby brother." Sabo laughed as he teased the freckled boy, although he probably should have chosen his words more carefully, because it wasn't long before Ace's eye twitched, having heard enough before he flipped out, leaping on his 'younger' brother's face and pulling at his hair, ripping out a few locks of it as he felt the only emotion he could feel was frustration and annoyance at Sabo, except this time it was to a whole new extent.

"SHUT THE HELL UP! BLONDIE!" Ace stammered, Luffy gaped at Ace pulling on Sabo's hair, and suddenly had a flashback to when he had done something similar. He remembered the Sunny being set on fire after that, and how they had to make an entire new mast. The brunette quickly took hold of Ace and ripped his away from a now very angry Sabo. The blonde looked as if he could blow at any second with his messed up hair that now resembled that of a birds nest.

"Just great..." Luffy muttered. Ace could only wonder what was happening until his annoying blonde brother burst into flames. What. The. Actual. Hell?

**"SABO BLEW UP!"** Ace screamed, Luffy ran out of the infirmary with Ace in hand, shouting for Law as he ran. He really didn't want to deal with Sabo on his own, and Law's ability would be quite useful to help minimize the damage to the ship

"TORAO! HELP!" The pirate captain shouted with Ace in hand, however, the surgeon did not come. Luffy comically cried, knowing that the surgeon was most likely aware of the situation but simply didn't care enough to help. Without Law at his side, Luffy was forced to be the bigger man and get Sabo to stop. The infirmary was on fire now, Sabo would emerge soon. And Luffy couldn't help but find a scowl make it to his face. Despite Sabo being the older brother, Luffy honestly was the one who always had to calm him down or talk some sense into him. It was like the blonde was a 5 year old. He acted recklessly when his hair was messed up, but why he did such things Luffy didn't know. All he did know was that it was annoying and often caused him and his crew trouble. Sabo could have burned Ace! Not to mention he was still supposed to be in bed! What was Sabo thinking!?

"LUFFY! SABO BLEW UP!** HE DIED!**" Ace screamed from his brothers grasp, clearly unaware of the situation.

"He's being such a brat." Luffy scowled, fed up with his brother's actions. Ace gave Luffy a confused look. Sabo? A brat? What? Was Luffy really talking down to his older brother?

"What are you saying?" Ace questioned. The look Luffy gave the freckled boy was now much more mature than before. Ace didn't know how such a thing was possible... Luffy was one moment crying of joy that he was ok, then ridiculously nervous, and somewhat unable to read after his comment of older Ace never visiting, and now he was acting like a proper adult!? How could Luffy have so many sides of himself!? Ace could only wonder which side was the real Luffy... Luffy sighed, which seemed like something Law would do in this situation, but he couldn't help himself. Ace almost got hurt, and Sabo was being reckless. He supposed he would have to be like Law to amend this problem.

"He didn't blow up. He just used his devil's fruit." Ace's eyes widened.

"EH!? WHEN DID SABO GET A DEVILS FRUIT! IS IT FIRE!? THAT'S ANNOYING! THE SHIP WILL BURN DOWN!" Ace shouted angrily from Luffy's hands, now almost quite frustrated by the blonde's actions. Luffy then placed down his brother when he saw a figure emerge from the fire. Luffy was about ready to let his older brother have it because he didn't want to play _'angel'_ any longer.

"ACE! YOU LITTLE SHIT!" Sabo shouted in fury, Ace genuinely had to hide begin Luffy's leg because his brother seemed so lethal and murderous. That was odd, usually Ace was the one who acted that way. Now Ace thought he was looking at an older version of himself. With the fire and all, Ace didn't know what to think but the fire seemed to fit him. The connection was weird and Ace couldn't understand why.

"When the hell did Sabo become a killer!?" Ace questioned from behind Luffy. He honestly didn't know what to think of his 'younger' blonde brother. No way Ace would ever consider Sabo to be older than him... Luffy simply huffed in annoyance, making his way over to his hot-headed brother while Ace followed behind slowly.

"ACE! YOU DAMN BRAT! DON'T TOUCH MY HAIR!" The blonde screamed out of anger, now Luffy really did know that his older brother was being petty. It was ok to fight people for their rum or food but simply because Ace ruffled the man's hair was no excuse to burn down the damn ship. Even if the Sunny was fully capable of getting out of this fire unharmed, or barely harmed, that didn't make Sabo's actions anymore excusable!

"Sabo!" Luffy shouted, getting the blondes attention. "What in the hell are you doing!? **You're burning the goddamn ship!**" Both Sabo and Ace were very much surprised at Luffy's words. He seemed to be fuming with rage. But not in the way Sabo was. Luffy's anger was more controlled. Ace was almost jealous of how mature Luffy was being. Sabo was taken aback by Luffy's words. They sounded so similar to Laws. The tone was so direct and so bitter. Because Sabo had only been yelled at by the surgeon this morning, it was still quite fresh in his mind, but he couldn't help but notice that when Luffy acted mature, he acted a lot like Law... Sabo couldn't help but think back to Law's words from before. _'Did you know that he dissimulates his every emotion!?' _Sabo stopped, the flames on his body-calming, while the flames on the ship had faded almost completely. Law was... right. Never had Sabo ever seen Luffy act this to him. Maybe he would shout at an enemy, but, the was his rage was directed at the blonde, he almost felt like everything was his fault, not just burning the ship. Everything.

"Lu..." Sabo muttered, his flames disappeared completely. He made his way over to see if Luffy or more likely if Ace was hurt. "Guys, I'm really sorry-" Sabo tried to apologize but was met with a punch in the face from his younger brother. Ace was stunned at Luffy's actions. Sabo quickly regained himself and shouted,

"I said sorry! Why did you hit me!?" Luffy wasn't comically angry though, he was dead serious.

"Do you think this is a joke!? You put so many people at risk! **You almost hurt Ace!** What do you think would have happened if I hadn't pulled him away, He would have been burnt badly! Is your hair seriously more important than Ace!? And this isn't even the first time you've done this! You're just lucky I have Haki, however Ace doesn't! **Do you want to hurt your brother!?**" Luffy was fuming while Sabo was quiet for a moment, a not so friendly look rested on the blondes face. However, Ace was proud of Luffy's statement. It seemed that Luffy really wasn't that little kid he used to be. He was apparently the most mature out of all of them. which was honestly very surprising.

"He's not Ace... He's not my brother..." Sabo said quietly. His words were hardly audible, and Luffy only heard them because of his Observation Haki. The brunette paused at the blondes words. He really did mean them, didn't he? Ace was unaware of what the blonde had said and was now confused why Luffy's expression seemed to be hurt. Sabo sighed, taking a moment to gather himself before looking at Luffy. His voice was now a little more humble than before. " Sorry, Luffy... But I can't feel the way you do. I'm sorry I got mad about my hair being messed up... I'm just like Ace with my attitude it seems." The blonde chuckled, trying to make up for what he had said. But he simply couldn't deny it. He didn't have a close connection with Ace like he did with Luffy. And this kid wasn't at all how he remembered Ace. They weren't the same person. Ace shot Sabo a look, being annoyed by his comment about him, while Luffy's serious face, that held remnants of hurt, managed to find its way into a smile. It was soft, and understanding. Luffy couldn't expect Sabo to feel the same way about Ace as he did... The brunette tried to push those thoughts aside, and he smiled at Sabo who was busy getting hit by Ace.

"You could have killed me! And everyone else!" Ace shouted as his small arms repeatedly whacked Sabo. They weren't very powerful but this was no time to make anyone else angry.

"What the hell happened!?" A new voice shouted. Luffy turned to see that Sanji and the rest of the crew had made their way outside, where they could see a very much burnt infirmary room. The wood was still intact, if anything it was a little singed, but it didn't look very pretty.

"LUFFY! Did your damn brother burn the ship again?! AGAIN!?" Nami scowled.

"Ah! Ace!? Why are you out of bed!? You should be resting!" Chopper shouted out of concern, Turning into his large form and preventing Ace from smacking Sabo anymore, which frustrated the brunette, however, he decided to do as the deer said.

"SUNNY?! OI, SABO! WHAT WERE YOU THINKING!?" Franky yelled. Sabo could only apologize so many times... He really had lost himself in that and every single person deserved his apology, especially Franky. Once everyone was finally satisfied with Sabo's apologies, and most of his money, The crew retreated to what they were previously doing. Franky, however, grumbled about the Sunny being damaged and started repairing the infirmary. Luffy, Sabo, and Ace were all kicked out to the front of the ship so Luffy could keep an eye of his firey tempered brother. Sabo had felt ashamed that his younger brother was having to watch over him while Ace continued to taunt Sabo and hopefully get to see him on fire. Even though Sabo had been trying to kill him, he was super cool when he was surrounded in fire. Ignoring his brother's taunts, Sabo sat at the front of the ship, now contemplating what he had seen. Luffy's serious, mature expression, that shot annoyance, and then Luffy's resentful expression that was displayed only the day before. Why was he suddenly behaving so differently...? Sabo couldn't help but think of Law's words again. Luffy was different. He wanted to know why.

**TBC.**

**[AUTHORS NOTES]**

**Hi there everyone! This chapter literally became twice as long, but it is so much better than before! So amazing! However, because it was getting too long, sitting over 5000 words!? Wow, a new record! I decided to cut out the end scene, which is Sabo asking Luffy why he doesn't get much sleep. I really am going to do some heavy editing to the next chapter similar to how I did with this chapter, so I hope you are all excited about that. Then finally I can write new chapters for this story... There is a certain someone I want to introduce, but I can't do that until both Law and Marco leave. Then I'll introduce probably Jinbei, and that certain 'She' everyone is talking about. How could it be? Well according to how Law described her it should be fairly obvious... Then after all of those characters are introduced, I can finally progress with STORYLINE! Because at the moment it just feels like Ace is meeting all these people. And we have progressed through some story because Ace getting sick and getting the PZ-1 is very important, but they're an actual story I need to hurry up and implant. So I may start hinting at that soon enough. I also want to start editing "The blue gentlemen, and the straw hat" Like I did with this story, but that will deprive you guys from even more new chapters. So I may take the time to only do that sometimes but then focus on new chapters. Ok, I sure did say a whole lot. Anyways, see you all soon!**


	12. The truth comes out, goodbye

**Freckles that aren't where their supposed to be.**

CHAPTER 12: The truth comes out, goodbye

* * *

Several hours had passed since _'Sabo's childish fit'_ as Ace liked to refer to it as. Honestly, the blonde was almost as hot-headed as him, more even. It was a daunting thought to the brunette since Sabo was always known to be the responsible one in the trio, while Luffy was the innocent one. Ace had always been the one to get mad and pick fights, but now it seemed that Sabo was no different from him at times. It really was a confusing thing for the boy to understand, but he tried his best to simply ignore the fact and just try to be happy.

Ace, Sabo, and Luffy had all been sent to the front of the ship while Franky attempted to repair the damage Sabo had left. Not that it was that bad, as the blonde could usually control the amount of fire he used and how much it would damage the surrounding area, but he couldn't stop it's damage completely. It was a fire after all. Ace wondered how his brother acquired such a devil's fruit. It was definitely powerful, yet Ace felt like the fruit didn't quite fit Sabo completely aside from his agitated behavior. The freckled boy wondered who exactly had eaten the fruit before Sabo had... However, Ace was snapped out of his thoughts when Sabo, who had been very quiet since what had happened early, had finally decided to speak up.

"Hey... Lu?" The blonde questioned his younger brother, who was lying back on the wooden planks enjoying the comfortable silence that had been surrounding the three. Luffy sluggishly looked back at Sabo, whose expression was perhaps a little too serious. Luffy could only hope he would try to question him of anything. After what had happened, the Pirate Captian was already mentally drained and didn't exactly want to deal with anything more now. However Sabo's expression didn't change, and Luffy managed to reply despite his curious, and strong gaze.

"Hm? What's up, Sabo?" Luffy replied casually, slightly absent-minded. Ace perked up a little at his brother's voice and moved to sit near Luffy, The older brunette looked at Ace, finding him to be much more interesting than the blonde, and pet the freckled boy's head. Ace slowly found a smile reach his face at his brother's attention, and begun to play with Luffy's stretchy features, pulling on his cheek slightly as his brother pet him. Ace himself now thought that he'd finally accepted the fact that Luffy would treat him as his age, and despite Ace not being fond of all this close contact, he knew that he loved it deep down. Well... That and the brunette found Sabo's expression at this moment very amusing. The blonde had been mostly ignored by his younger brother, who was now showing attention to Ace. The child enjoyed stealing his blonde brother's attention from Luffy, and even if he wasn't fond of the closeness, making Sabo jealous was worth it in his book.

"Luffy. I wanted to ask you something..." Sabo tried to continue the conversation, however, with Luffy looking to be very uninterested and finding more enjoyment in petting the smallest brother, Sabo was about ready to sigh in defeat. However, taking notice in his brother's slightest desperation to ask him a question, Luffy sat up, picking Ace up in the process and sitting the boy between his legs so he could focus his attention on Sabo instead of Ace. The freckled boy, however, pouted a little at Luffy for moving him, and also for not being able to stretch his brother's face out of boredom. However Ace didn't object, he simply felt embarrassed as he sat between his older brother's legs, now also seeing that's Sabo's expression had reverted to the serious one from before. Why be so serious?

"Alright, alright. What is it?" Luffy questioned briefly, eager to play with Ace more after Sabo had asked his question. The blonde smiled vaguely at Luffy for giving him this opportunity, and his mind immediately returned to his conversation with Law this morning. Well, rather it was an argument and a heated one at that. Despite his thoughts, Sabo had to prove that Luffy wasn't those things Law had claimed him to be. He wasn't sleep deprived, depressed, or dissimulating! Sabo would ask him right now if those things were true! He didn't like how Law had referred to his brother at all, and despite seeing a very empty, and a very mature side to his brother these past few days, that didn't mean those attributes out weighted his childish personality, or his positive attitude... Did it?

"Look. Luffy. I'm not sure how to put this but... I was talking with that Surgeon earlier today... He said you don't get much sleep, and that you're not happy... Is that true?" Sabo tried to ask his question as nicely as possible, not really wanting to seem as if he was only looking for information, even if that was the case. Luffy however, paused when Sabo had asked that question. Torao... Did he really? Did he tell Sabo about **that!?** The brunette gulped, attempting to smile despite what his older brother had just asked. He...He couldn't hide it any longer.. not if it would worry Sabo, but... He didn't want them to know about that side of himself... He hated that side of himself!

"I.. Uuhh... Perhaps you heard Torao wrong.. err, he may have exaggerated. I mean... yeah I don't get much sleep, but I mean... It's not that bad? I just can't sleep at night. No big deal... Right?" Luffy fumbled out a handful of words, laughing nervously as he spoke. He didn't want them to know... He was hiding so much, but it was for their own good. Right? Ace, however, who had been listening to the brief exchange, as well and noticing Luffy's entire body stiffen at Sbao's words, felt that he should try to calm his big brother. Ace himself didn't know why Sabo wanted to know these things though. Was Luffy not sleeping? Was he not happy? Ace himself wasn't sure, and although he did want to know what Luffy's apparent problem was, it was most likely better if instead, he supported his older brother... Maybe?

Luffy however, felt Ace lean into him, and somehow the boy's presence calmed the older brother. Luffy sighed inwardly, it seemed that he couldn't hide this any longer... Sleep was something Luffy could hardly get. It was hard for him to get to sleep and even to stay asleep. Usopp used to say it was because their captain had so much energy and simply wasn't able to sleep because of it, however, Zoro would say that Luffy was simply watching out for incoming Marines so he could keep the Sunny safe. In Luffy's opinion though, he would think that Nami's assumption was the closest. She would say that maybe he simply had something on his mind. Chopper had disagreed with Nami several times, saying that Luffy had developed the horrible sleep schedule after they were separated. There was no way he would be dwelling on something for 3 years and end up with sleepless nights because of it, at least in Chopper's opinion. Sanji had agreed with Nami while Franky and Robin sided with Zoro. Brook didn't know who to join so he didn't give an opinion.

For a time this subject had really put a nail between the crew. Everyone had wanted to know what kept Luffy up but no one dared to ask him. It's not like they were afraid to do so, they were just curious but didn't want to disturb their captain's thoughts. Zoro was the only person who ever questioned Luffy on the subject and being the caring first mate Zoro was, he had comforted his Captain most nights after learning what was happening. Zoro didn't dare tell any of the other crew members since Luffy had said to keep it between them. The older brunette sighed, this time outwardly at his thoughts. He didn't want to do this. He wanted to run from this, but... He couldn't... Not from Sabo, and definitely not from Ace.

"What do you mean, _'you just can't sleep at night?'_ Is there something keeping you up?" Sabo questioned his younger brother, pushing for further answers. Ace gave Luffy a worried look. He had seemed so happy ever since being on the Sunny but was Luffy really having emotional struggles? He was a crybaby but something like sleep would never be a problem when he was younger.

"Well, kind of," Luffy said vaguely. Sabo frowned at Luffy's response.

"Kind of? Just tell us. We're brothers. You can't hide things from us Luffy." Sabo was more stern as he spoke and Luffy glanced away. He felt a small hint of pressure come from Sabo, and Ace had noticed it too. But... was this really right? Should Luffy be pressured to talk about this? Ace wondered if what Sabo was doing was right. It didn't at all sit well with the boy...

"Sabo I-" Luffy started after his gaze slowly lingered towards Sabo, however, he was interrupted by Ace's voice.

"Onii-san. You don't have to tell us if you don't want to." The sentence startled Sabo. To say that Ace was worried about Luffy was an understatement. Ace was like Sabo. He desperately wanted to know why his older brother was upset, but at the same time, he knew that he had to respect Luffy's decision of not telling him or Sabo. Even though they were brothers, some secrets just had to be kept. Even Sabo had hidden the fact that he was a Nobel, for at least 5 years or so. If Luffy had something he didn't want to tell them, then he had all right to it. However, Ace's thoughts didn't deny the fact that he did want to know...

"Wah!? But Ace! That's totally not fair! Luffy's our brother he has to tell us! Just like I told you two I was a Nobel" Sabo argued. Ace didn't look at Sabo though, instead, the younger's gaze leads to Luffy. Turning around in Luffy's lap to face him, Ace stared into his brother's eyes, which held a scarred emptiness that wasn't present earlier. Sometimes Ace would notice that about Luffy, how his eyes held sadness and regret, or even how they simply looked hollow. Like nothing was left, Luffy's solum eyes lingered on Ace now, and the freckled boy could tell that his older brother was trying to suppress this feeling but failing to do so. It made Ace upset that he couldn't help his brother. After everything, he was useless.

"No, Ace. Sabo's right.." Luffy muttered, his mouth finding a small smile cross it, but it was one of defeat. Ace couldn't stand it. He didn't think this was right. "You both deserve to know bu-" However Luffy couldn't finish, as Ace had wrapped his arms around the older, which was new for Luffy, as Ace didn't normally hug him willingly.

"No! Don't say it if it hurts! I don't want you to hurt Luffy!" Ace shouted, not wanting his brother to hurt anymore than he already had. Ace realized at this moment that something had been upsetting Luffy. All the dots connected. The secrets, the hollowness, the unsureness. It was all connected! Ace had thought about it for a while, but it was clear that there was something Luffy was mentally struggling with even if he didn't say. Ace wouldn't force him. He couldn't bear to do that to his brother.

"What!? Ace! He's gonna tell us so why not let him!?" Sabo asked somewhat sternly. Ace could tell te blonde was most likely more interested in knowing Luffy's problem over actually wanting to help. The thought of the blonde being like that made the freckled boy sick to his stomach.

"Because! It's obviously something important! And only people who **want to help** him should know!" Ace hissed back, now annoyed with Sabo's actions. The blonde was taken back by Ace's words. He was clearly insinuating that he didn't care about Luffy and simply wanted to know the problem. But that wasn't true at all! ... was it? Sabo grew silent. Looking away, finding some truth in the boy's words. Ace continued to cling to Luffy while giving Sabo a cold set of eyes. Now that the three brothers were intense silence, Luffy took this moment to return Ace's embrace. He smiled softly at the boy which Ace appreciated before his older brother had leaned down to his ear, whispering something that would stick with Ace thereon.

_"You're very brave Ace. You always have been brave, and very strong too. Not like me... I'm weak. But it's ok because I'll have you to back me up. Please let me do this."_ Ace paused at his brother's words. He spoke quietly, barely audible, and Ace knew that the words were only meant for him. The freckled boy could hear his brother's words waver, and he knew that what he was about to explain would have been something to have stuck with him for a while if it was affecting him this much. Ace finally did nod, although it was reluctant, and his grip on Luffy loosened. The said Pirate turned his gaze towards Sabo who looked to be uninvolving himself, he seemed to be mulling something over in his head.

"Sabo. Ace." Luffy spoke up finally. The blonde turned to look at Luffy while Ace's gaze had never left him. "It's... It's true. Everything Torao told you Sabo. But don't feel sorry for me... Because this is a problem I've had for over 3 years... and it's only worsened recently." Luffy's thought lingered back to Raftel. He knew full well that was when his condition had worsened. He regrets the decision he had made back then. He was so selfish... He'd never forgive himself... Sabo however, was quite shocked by his brother's statement. Three years!? Did it mean that even at Dress Rosa, Luffy was having these same problems? Has he really been that bad? What on earth could it be from?

"Over three years?" Ace asked inquisitively. He was being much calmer than Sabo at this moment, simply holding onto Luffy showing nothing but concern. However, Sabo was much more stressed by this. He started sweating and his expression showed much more than simple worry in it. How could Ace keep his composure? How was that possible for that kid!?

"Yep. I've been haunted by this weakness of mine ever since... MarineFord." Luffy answered, now facing his main attention on Ace. The younger brother now held a confused look on his face, what was a MarineFord? A person? A place? The freckled boy look over to Sabo who wore a very much shocked expression. Obviously he knew what that place was and what it stood for. However, the blonde didn't ask any questions. It was like he understood everything perfectly now. He glanced down at Ace, a solum look in his eyes. The freckled boy couldn't understand why Sabo had referred to him. Did he have a connection to that place? He hoped not, since it seems that this MarineFord was a reason Luffy had become in such a state.

"What's... MarineFord? Is it a place? A person?" Ace asked innocently, still clueless to what was about to be explained to him. Luffy sighed and Sabo seemed to be hiding his frustration now. He looked somewhat calm and held a serious expression but Ace was pretty sure the man was actually losing it if the sweat was any indication.

"It is." Luffy started, gaining Ace's attention. "It's the same place I received this scar on my chest." Luffy held his hand on his chest, where the massive X shaped scar showed. Ace remembered Luffy saying he had gotten the scar in a fight. So Luffy battled at a place called MarineFord? Just what kind of place was it that made Luffy get so injured? Ace was now hesitant to want to know the rest of the explanation.

"It is?" Ace inquired. He felt maybe he shouldn't speak since Luffy appeared to be explaining something but it was just so hard for the young boy to stay quiet. Could bear to deal with this situation that he had forced Luffy into. He should have to be accounting for his trauma. MarineFord of all places. It all made sense... Why Luffy was so connected to this Ace. It was to make up for MarineFord... For Ace's death. Why? Why did he have to push Luffy into this!? Sure he thought that Ace had a right to know, but not like this... This was wrong, but... It was too late to take it back. He would have been better of oblivious like Law had said he was.

"Yes Ace, it is," Luffy stated, a small smile resting on his face. Ace wondered how his older brother could look like that despite the things he was talking about. War stories it seemed. "But more importantly, MarineFord is where..." The older paused, he dreaded the day he would have to tell the smaller boy this, but he stayed strong for once and continued. "It's where you died." The older brunette finished slowly. Everything went silent after that. Ace's eyes widened, that was the last thing he ever expected Luffy to ever say

"I-" Was all Ace could manage, his emotions bubbling around in his mind. But that didn't make sense, Marco said he was-

_'Ace, you're really far away.'_ The blonds words replayed over and over again in his mind. He wasn't dead, was he? Or did Marco mean that- oh no... Ace seemed to be in his own world now, his body grew numb, stiff. He tried to look up but his nerves wouldn't allow it. He didn't want to believe it. He promised Luffy!_ 'I promise! I won't die no matter what!'_ Ace searched through his memories of what he'd said that day. Everything was blurring in his mind... Ace suddenly felt himself reliving the moment he and Luffy were on the seaside when Ace promised his younger brother that he would protect him. He promised him that! and yet, he appeared to have broken that promise... Ace was suddenly forced out of his flashback by Luffy's hand grabbing his shoulder as his grip had apparently gotten tighter on the older.

"Ace, I'm so sorry for not telling you." His eyes were beginning to water. Ace couldn't help but do the same. Sabo had kept his distance, unsure how to feel at this moment. His gaze didn't meet the two brunettes, but Ace was sure that he'd seen a trace of guilt hidden in the blonde's eyes. Well, he would blame him. Sabo was very insensitive about pressuring Luffy to talk to him.

"No, Onii-san, I'm sorry... I... I couldn't protect you. Even if it was the older me or whatever. You needed me and I wasn't there..." Ace finally let out a few small sobs as he spoke. He really was a useless brother, wasn't he? He should have been stronger 10 years into the future right? Even more so... But he wasn't... He failed Luffy.

"No, Ace... Don't blame yourself. Please..." Luffy begged, hating himself for making Ace feel like he was responsible. He wasn't. If only he was stronger. If only he'd dodged that last attack... Everything would have been different. It wasn't Ace's fault, especially this child Ace. Since he hadn't experienced any of what had happened. It was Luffy's fault. He knew that. He'd accepted that...

"But... I broke our promise... and I-" Ace tried to reason, however, Luffy cut him off before he could continue speaking.

"You didn't break our promise. You're here, aren't you? So let's make sure we fulfill it together this time. Okay? Ace smiled and nodded his head, letting his tears flow similar to how Luffy used to as a kid. He didn't like that he was crying since it was child-like, but he couldn't help himself. Ace buried his head in Luffy's cardigan and wrapped his arms around him tightly. He didn't want this Luffy to disappear. He wanted to stay here. He wanted to do all those things, and if not for himself then he wanted to do them for Luffy. His brother. His older brother. Ace couldn't help but feel at home with this older Luffy he'd come to know so well.

"Luffy... Please...Don't leave!" Was all Ace could manage. Luffy smiled and Ace could feel his brother reach a hand to his head, and stroke his black raven hair softly. Normally Ace would try to get away from such affection, but he knew deep down that he wanted that. It was the best feeling in the world. His words caused Luffy to chuckle, who then noticed that Sabo had disinvolved himself, however it wasn't long before the older brunette had stretched a hand out towards Sabo, reeling him into the embrace as well. The blonde was surprised by Luffy's actions and was a little embarrassed that Luffy would have to go to that extent simply to hug him, but he didn't resist. Ace grinned through his tears as Luffy forced Sabo to join them. The blonde had begun to laugh, trying to push back his signs of weakness.

"I'm not going anywhere." Luffy smiled at Ace reassuringly now that the three brothers were all hugging. It caused Ace's smile to widen, even more.

"You better not! Idiot!" Ace continued hugging both of his brothers, refusing to let them go. He liked things like this. He didn't want it to change. Not ever.

* * *

It had been a long and frustrating day, Law noticed. After his brief conversation with Sabo, the surgeon had decided to retreat to his crew's submarine where he would hopefully be able to rest. But no, not even 10 minutes had gone by before he could smell smoke coming from the ship. Law's first thought was the kitchen, however, Sanji was a very reliable cook therefore it was unlikely that he had started the fire.

Thinking, Law went through the members of the ship who could use fire. Franky was one, but why the cyborg needed to do anything of the sort was beyond law, so he quickly assumed that the shipwright wasn't responsible. Sanji was also capable of setting his leg on fire for whatever reason. It was possible that he and Zoro could be in the middle of a fight and Sanji perhaps got carried away? It was a possibility. The only other person on board who could be responsible is Sabo. Having the mera-mera no mi fruit made him able to control fire as Ace could. However, Law noted that Sabo was a very reasonable man at times. Although he did lose his temper rarely, it was unlikely that he was the cause of the fire.

"TORAO! HELP!" Law slightly shifted in his seat within the sub. Luffy was now shouting out for him, why?

"SABO EXPLODED!?" A younger voice was heard, Law sighed at the youngers comment, it was most likely Ace, therefore if he were with Luffy, and saying that Sabo exploded of all things, Law had easily come to the conclusion that Sabo had either gotten mad at something Ace did or gotten mad at something Luffy did. Both were plausible and Law didn't deny that both could be the reason why the blonde was going wild. He was underwater for crying out loud, and yet he could still smell the fire from the ship. The blonde must have really lost it. Yet, despite Luffy having to shout Law's name, the surgeon stayed put. Luffy was obviously stronger than Sabo and if they had to have a fight, then the blonde would lose for sure. If Law were honest with himself, Luffy probably only wanted him to come so then he could disassemble the blonde's body in hopes of hiding something from Ace. However, Law couldn't decide if it was Luffy's strength or his mature attitude he was wanting the freckled boy to go on without knowing.

The surgeon slumped in his chair, hearing Luffy shout at Sabo for burning the ship, honestly, despite only now entering Adulthood at 20 a few months ago, Luffy could sometimes be more serious then both of his brothers combined. Simply thinking of how much Luffy had grown mentally sent shivers down the man's back. He was such a stubborn brat when they had first met. Not that he wasn't still stubborn, but he'd managed to climb up so high and now he was the Pirate King. You couldn't be allied with someone better. Despite all of the loud noise which Law would prefer to not deal with, he was actually happy to be allied with such a strange boy.

"Captain, the submarine is all ready, shall we be heading off?" Penguin informed the surgeon, as he entered the room. Law waved his hand off telling him to wait a while longer. He didn't know how much longer he'd been slumped in his chair lost in thought, but after a while, he then stood up and roomed his way up onto the Sunny. Law looked down at the grass below his feet. He wouldn't get to stand on this grass for quite a while after they left. Law was hesitant to tell Luffy, but he planning on becoming a full-time doctor. He was sick of Piracy despite being a Yonko. It wasn't like Law could simply say he wanted to stop being a pirate and the world would let him, as the government would definitely be against it, but Law assumed that the revolution would overpower the government eventually, so he didn't worry much about that. Sighing out of his thoughts, Law looked around for Luffy, knowing he would have to explain the situation to him. But he wasn't at all excited to do so...

**TBC**

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**[AUTHORS NOTES]**

**Haha, so I somewhat shortened and took out Law and Luffy's conversation that had been in this chapter, however, I will continue that in the next chapter because it is important. I simply saw this chapter go well over 5K words and knew I needed to stop writing. I instead took the conversation and put on the next chapter file, so the oversize of this chapter is now about 4.6k which is more within my general writing range. I tried to make Ace finding out about his death more realistic. Because last time I found it really cheesy. So I like my edited version better. Anyway, I hope you did enjoy this fixed up the chapter, and I'll see you in the next chapter when I do submit it eventually.**


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